Surreality Book one: The Butterfly Effect
by AquaRias
Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a reaction…can they get it right? COMPLETE, SEQUEL OUT.
1. Breaker of Decades

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**A/N: It's been done before, but I'm hoping mine will be a little different then the others.**

**Chapter one: Breaker of Decades**

"This will _never_ work!" A tall blond man jumped to his feet, his face a picture of outrage. His eyes glittered like sapphires with barely controlled fury at his companion's suggestion.

"_Think_ Naruto! What else can we do? And besides, it's not like we have anything to loose anymore!" The other man shouted, matching his companion with his rage. His normally bright red hair was an even darker shade then usual as it was streaked with what could only be blood.

The man called Naruto glared at the red head, his gaze hardened as it locked on the eyes of the other man. "I will _not_ abandon this village, Gaara."

"Not even if it is the only thing that will save it?" Gaara hissed, efficiently halting his friend's anger in its tracks. Naruto fell back down into his seat, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes. One lone tear descended down his tanned cheeks, slicing a line of moisture through the three whisker like scars on Naruto's cheeks.

Minutes passed in silence, before Naruto finally lifted his head to meet Gaara's steady gaze. "What do I have to do?" Naruto's voice was utterly defeated. His face was strong as his composure held, but his eyes betrayed his inner dismay.

"As Kazekage, I have access to a number of forbidden scrolls." Gaara began, taking the seat beside his friend. "On one of these such scrolls, there is a particular jutsu…forbidden for the simple reason that it is impossible. To perform this jutsu you need not only one person with an almost unlimited amount of chakra, but two. So yes, in almost all cases, this jutsu is impossible. But it is _not_ impossible for two demon containers like us to perform it…at least, I think so anyway." A frown crossed Gaara's face as he considered for a moment. "Yes, I think it should almost defiantly be within the realm of possibility for Shukaku and Kyuubi…" His voice trailed off once more, as Gaara became lot in thought.

Naruto tapped his foot with impatience, but when that seemed to harbour no results, his limited patience snapped. "Would you mind telling me exactly what this jutsu does already!"

"Hm?" Gaara murmured, lifting his head. "Oh, right. Sorry to keep you waiting _Hokage-sama._" He muttered mockingly, before continuing. "This jutsu…if it works…_should_ take us back in time."

"So you _weren't_ kidding before when you said we had to time travel?" Naruto said blankly, trying to wrap his mind around the concept. Gaara shook his head, before standing again.

"So are we agreed?" He asked, his eyes seeming to dare Naruto to refuse. Naruto nodded grimly, before standing by his friend. "Then let us prepare."

…AR…

Shikamaru sighed as he fought off yet another wave of sound ninjas, Neji and Rock Lee by his side. "More sound ninjas. What a drag."

"I could not agree more!" Lee exclaimed as he punched yet another enemy's face in.

"Let's just get this over with." Neji muttered. "Byakugan!" His eyes pulsated slightly with a faint blue aura as the veins on the side of his face popped out slightly, allowing for the superior vision of the Byakugan.

Shikamaru swung his kunai to the right as another ninja landed beside him, before stopping as he realised the identity of the dark haired man. "You get him Sasuke?"

"Hn." Shikamaru took this to mean 'yes'. Over the two years that the war with Orochimaru and his Sound Village, the old 'Rookie nine' and team Gai had gotten incredibly close as they fought side by side in battle after battle. However, the war had taken its toll as it picked them off one by one. The first one to go had been Choji, closely followed by Ino and Tenten. One year after Tenten's demise, Hinata, Shino and Kiba were all killed in the same battle…which they had ended up loosing anyway. Sakura was missing and presumed dead. The only ones left were Shikamaru, who was hardly ever involved in battle anyway, as he was the Hokage's head strategist and tactician. Neji, who had the superior Hyuuga bloodline on his side. Lee, whose speed and skill in taijutsu was unmatchable. Sasuke, who possessed the power of Chidori and Sharingan, and of course, the Hokage, Naruto.

They had all changed in the years of the war, now at twenty-two or twenty-three years of age, they were battle hardened and experienced fighters. No matter how many talented Jounin Konoha possessed, however, they were still on the losing side of the war.

Shikamaru held no illusions in his mind, he knew as well as the rest of them that the war was coming to an end, and they would not finish on top. That didn't mean they were just going to lie down and die though, so they kept fighting. He knew Gaara was working on a plan…a last resort; after all, he had helped come up with it. He seriously doubted that the two demon hosts would ever be able to pull it off though. Time travel? It was the one concept that even the most gifted of geniuses couldn't fathom. The simple reason being that there were just too many possibilities to comprehend.

It was called the butterfly effect. Say Naruto and Gaara did succeed and went back in time, only to jump in and kill Kabuto and the rest of the Konoha traitors before the whole mess even started. Then, there could be a huge number of repercussions. Sure, they could kill the spies, stop the invasion and halt the war that followed…._or_ it could totally destroy Konoha and leave it with an even worse fate then it is already suffering.

How could you know? Well that's exactly it; you couldn't. There is no one action you could take that would ensure better results. It would be a game of luck and chance, guessing your way through and hoping to roll a six.

…AR…

"You ready?"

"Ready."

"I'll send the signal then."

…AR…

Shikamaru looked up as one of the few remaining Konoha ninja landed beside him. "Message from the Hokage." The man announced, producing a scroll and handing it to the shadow manipulator.

Shikamaru hastily unrolled it, barely noticing the others forming a guard around him so that he could read it without interruption.

_Shika, Sasuke, Neji and Lee_

_It is time. Gaara has pulled out the trump card (No doubt with your help, Shika)and we have found a way to restore things to the way they should be. I will let Shika explain, but just in case this fails, this is my final goodbye._

_Shika- Finish this war. No matter the outcome, fight for our cause. I know it's all very troublesome, but do this for me. Make sure you help Sasuke get Itachi, don't die until you get him. Okay? God knows that bastard deserves to die. Just brave it for a little longer then you can finally be with Ino, and perhaps myself. I'll see you soon Shika, in this world or the next._

_Sasuke- I tell you the same thing I told Shika: MAKE SURE YOU GET ITACHI! I know how much that ambition means to you, to avenge your clan, and I am only sorry that I could not be there to help you. Also, once I go, you can be the nanadaime, okay? Atleast that way you die with the title of Hokage. See you soon Sasuke!_

_Neji- Make your own destiny. If you can't avoid death (and no offence, but the way things are going, that seems likely) then at least choose the way you die! Personally, I'd do a Zabuza and charge into a suicidal battle, taking down as many as I could…but hey, what ever you want. If things get better and we somehow pull out of this, then help Sasuke with his Hokage duties…cause I __**know**__ he's gonna suck at it! Help Shika too. If he survives this war then he's going to wish he hadn't. The only reason he's stayed so long is to finish his duty. I'm counting on you Hyuuga!_

_Lee- What can I say? You just go and do your thing Bushy Brows!_

_Well see you all soon! If this doesn't work, then it's all Gaara's fault!_

_Oh and just for the record, I don't really support this idea myself, but hey, Gaara's a convincing guy!_

_Naruto Uzumaki_

…AR…

Gaara and Naruto finished painting the kanji within the circle on Hokage Mountain, before finally standing inside it, hands at the ready. Simultaneously they began to form the hand signs, chakra gathering around them. Naruto took one last longing look around his village, before speaking the words to put in motion their final plan to save Konoha.

"_Time Shadow Jutsu!: Breaker of decades!_"

…AR…

Naruto opened his eyes, only to see more black. He squinted as three faint shapes entered his vision, the shapes shimmering and twisting until his vision finally settled. Before him stood Gaara, and the two huge forms of the Kyuubi and Shukaku. The large sand coloured cat like creature stretched slightly, its gold eyes fixated on Naruto. Naruto immediately deciding that he defiantly did not enjoy being looked at as if he was on the menu for Shukaku's dinner.

Kyuubi pushed Shukaku out of the way, stepping forward o laugh heartily at Naruto. "You fainted!" He exclaimed, rolling onto his back as he shook with laughter. "You fainted! You fainted! You-"

"Shut _up _Kyuubi!" Naruto exclaimed, rubbing his aching temples. "Where am I?" He asked Gaara, who seemed to be trying to control his own laughter.

"Why Naruto, we're in your mind. Since you...fainted…Me and Shukaku entered your mind to wake you up."

Naruto's eyes shot open as he remembered the events leading to his passing out. "Did it work?" He asked, almost afraid of Gaara's response.

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Of _course_ it worked. I thought of it, didn't I?" Gaara asked rhetorically, glaring at Naruto.

Naruto met his glare with his own, standing up wearily. "Hey, _you_ were the one who said you weren't sure if it would work!"

"That was _then, _this is _now._" Gaara said, nonchalantly waving of Naruto's argument. "I believe we have succeeded in going back ten years. The only problem, is that we are in completely different countries. I think we are some time between your genin exams and the beginning of the chuunin exams."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Well that's just wonderful. Now I have to relive the whole city of the Waves fiasco. What a drag."

Gaara raised an eyebrow…or would have, if he had any. "You need to stop hanging around Shikamaru. First you learned to copy Sasuke's stoic 'I'm an ice cube that doesn't melt' expression, and now you're saying Shika's line? Really Naruto, you should really reconsider your choice of friends this time around."

"Yeah, starting with _you_!" Naruto retorted.

Gaara shrugged. "Either way, it is of no concern to me. It's about time for you to wake up, I'm not sure of the exact time and you could be passed out in the middle of the street for all I know."

"Aw, was that _concern_ Gaara? For me? Oh I'm flattered."

"Pfft. Think what you like, idiot. I'll talk to you tonight."

"Looking forward to it…_not_"

"I heard that."

"…that was the point."

"Pffft. Whatever, I'm going."

Naruto sighed and opened his eyes, lifting his head off his arms, he took in his surroundings. He groaned as he realised his was at the academy, and had been sleeping on his desk. He felt the prickling sensation of being watched and turned to meet the burning eyes of a twelve year old Sasuke Uchiha.

…AR…

Sasuke glared at the loud, blond kid who _dared_ invade his personal space. First he yelled at him, then he jumped onto the desk and _leered _at him, and _then…_then the stupid brat _kissed_ him! _Him!_ And after all that, the kid had the nerve to fall asleep without even an explanation for his atrocious behaviour. Oh yes, Sasuke Uchiha was pissed.

_Perhaps he's in shock…_ Sasuke thought as he watched the blond sleep on the desk, completely ignoring Iruka as he explained what it meant to be a genin. "How'd that idiot even pass anyway?" Sasuke muttered, as the kid began to stir. Naruto opened dreary blue eyes and seemed to search the room, before meeting his own obsidian gaze. And then, he smirked.

Sasuke turned his glare up a few levels, before pointedly ignoring the dumb blond and facing the front.

…AR…

Naruto smiled to himself as Sasuke turned at faced the front, although Naruto _was_ a bit dismayed that he had arrive too late to stop the 'kiss'. He tuned back in to what Iruka (There's someone he sure missed a lot) was saying.  
"And so with that, I will now announce the teams. Team one will be…" Naruto tuned out, whistling listlessly to himself. He already knew the teams, anyway. "Squad Seven: Naruto Uzumaki. Sakura Haruno. And…Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto rolled his eyes as Sakura jumped out of her seat, screaming and cheering. While it was nice to see his team mate alive once more, he couldn't really understand why he had ever harboured that old crush on her.

"Squad eight will be…Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame." Naruto looked over to where Shikamaru and Ino where arguing about Sasuke. "And now squad ten. Ino Yamanaki, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi." Naruto sighed in relief, glad that his presence hadn't changed anything…yet. So far, everything was still according to the original timeline.

Finally, we were told to meet our senseis…and, like last time, Kakashi was fashionably late. Naruto was quickly becoming frustrated with Sasuke, as he was back to the whole moody avenger behaviour. Naruto had forgotten how long it had taken to change Sasuke's attitude.

Naruto sighed and rubbed his head in a futile attempt to stop his growing headache as Sakura once again tried to initiate conversation with Sasuke.

"So is it true you like girls with long hair? Sasuke? Sasuke!"

"Hn."

"Oh. Well, is it true that you prefer pink hair to blonde hair? Cause Ino totally said you liked blond hair but-"

"Would you shut up already?"

"Sorry Sasuke-kun, of course Sasuke-kun."

_Finally, silence! That girl can be so annoying!_

"Hey, Sasuke-kun-"

"SHUT UP SAKURA!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping to his feet. His yelling, however, was interrupted by the arrival of their teacher. This time, _without_ the black board eraser incident. However, Kakashi's entering statement was identical. _Typical._

"Hmm…How can I put this? My first impression of you guys…you're a bunch of idiots." Sasuke's eyebrow twitched almost unnoticeably.

A slight argument followed with Sakura trying to defend herself, when they were finally lead up to the roof.

"Alright." Kakashi said, just like the first time. "Why don't you introduce yourselves…I know, you can tell me your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams and…favourite animal." Naruto blinked. _Slight variation there…have I changed something already?_ Naruto forced down the panic that was rising in his chest, willing himself to remain in character.

"I suppose I'll be going first then. I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and hate...I don't feel like telling you that. I have plenty of hobbies and my dreams for the future…I've never really thought about it. My favourite animal…well I don't really have one."

"That was totally useless." Sakura muttered. "At least we learnt his name." Naruto made a noise of agreement.

"Okay, your turn. The one in the orange on the right."

Naruto sighed, before putting on a fake cheery voice that he hadn't used in years. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen…and…well ramen! I hate the three minutes it takes to make the ramen. My hobby is eating ramen. My dream for the future? Well I'm gonna be Hokage someday! The greatest Hokage ever!" _I never knew how right I was…_ "My favourite animal is…a fox." Naruto thought he saw a slight crease of Kakashi's forehead, indicating a frown, but it was gone before he could be sure.

"Alright. Pinky, it's your turn." Sakura scoffed a little at the name, before introducing herself. "I'm Sakura Haruno. I like…" He eyes drifted to Sasuke as she giggled. "My hobby is…" Her eyes drifted to Sasuke again. "My dreams for the future are…" Three guesses where her eyes drifted. "And my favourite animal is a cat."

"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked lazily.

"NARUTO!" Sakura exclaimed. Naruto found it funny that her comment didn't hurt nearly as much as it had the first time…although to hear one of your (dead) best friends say they hated you was a little harsh.

"Okay…Silent angsty guy, your turn."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate almost everything and like very few things. My hobby is training. My dream…or rather ambition, is to kill a certain man. My favourite animal is a snake." Kakashi stared at him for a moment, before saying that was great and moving on. Kakashi explained about the pass or fail test and told them to meet at the bridge at seven o'clock the following morning. Pffft as if. If Kakashi wasn't going to show until nine, then neither was Naruto. And he sure as hell was eating breakfast this time!


	2. Pass or Fail: Take Two!

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Chapter one: Pass or Fail: Take Two!**

"Gaara?" Naruto called, peering into the dark abyss that was his mind. He was still not completely certain how the red headed demon host managed to get into Naruto's mind while he slept, but it was a question that Gaara refused to answer. Naruto sighed and briefly entertained the thought that Gaara wasn't coming. The silence stretched around him, as Kyuubi had retreated into his own section of Naruto's mind to sleep.

"Gaara…come out, come out where ever you are…" Naruto jumped as a presence suddenly appeared in front of him, cursing Gaara as he regained his balance.

"Don't _do_ that!"

"Sorry." Gaara shrugged, stepping forward.

"Well in any case, the jutsu worked. I woke up right as Iruka was announcing the genin teams."

"You get that lazy ass excuse for a sensei again?" Gaara asked, something flashing in his eyes for a moment. It could defiantly be said that Gaara and Kakashi had not exactly gotten along, even after Gaara had signed the alliance with Konoha as Kazekage.

Naruto nodded and sighed a little. "Which means I have that stupid survival test tomorrow." He groaned, emitting yet another sigh.

Gaara smirked, amusement in his aqua coloured eyes. "Good luck with that. I myself found myself in the midst of a challenging mission. Suffice it to say that Temari and Kankuro were quite surprised when their resident insomniac fell asleep in a tree during battle."

"That would have been funny!"

"Indeed…"

_Gaara yawned, sighing slightly as he opened his eyes lazily, only to meet the furious eyes of Baki-sensei. _

"_What the hell are you doing Gaara!" He exclaimed, dragging Gaara down from the tree he had previously been slumbering in. _

"_Hm?" Gaara asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he tried to recognise his surroundings. "Oh. Sorry, must have drifted off." He said, shrugging nonchalantly. Temari's eyes widened slightly from her position behind Baki, Kankuro frowned at this statement. _

_Baki seemed to be at a loss of what to make of Gaara. "But…" He frowned. "I thought you didn't sleep?" Baki was genuinely confused. I mean, come on. Gaara, the sleepless demon, drifting off in a tree during battle, and then waking after the battle had concluded and making strange un-Gaara like statements? It was defiantly something that had never occurred before._

_Gaara shrugged again, standing up and stretching slightly. "So, what did I miss?" _

"Suffice it to say that Temari, Kankuro and Baki are going to have to get used to a new Gaara from now on."

"That's so _unfair! _You get to change your personality and no-one bats an eyelid, yet _I_ have to maintain this idiotic, attention seeking, way-too-happy façade!" Naruto exclaimed, glaring vehemently at his friend.

Gaara sighed, rolling his eyes as if the solution was obvious. "Dobe. Who says you can't change your personality? Just say you had a near death experience or something. Or say your cat died. They'll get used to it eventually."

"Yeah, that, or they'll think I'm an impostor or something, since there is no way anyone can change _that_ much over night! I'm a completely different person now Gaara. How can I be expected to be the person I used to be now that I'm so much different?"

Gaara shrugged, seemingly not caring either way. "I never said it would be easy. My sensei and siblings are under the belief that I had an enlightening dream which changed my outlook on life. They seem to have bought that story well enough…" He paused before continuing. "Or, I suppose it could be that they are simply to scared of me to voice any suspicions they may have." He shrugged. "Either way, it worked."

Naruto shook his head. "Whatever Gaara. I'll change, but gradually…give them some time to get used to the real me. Who knows, maybe they'll think I've matured. Anyway, I'm going to sleep now. I'll need my energy tomorrow…Hokage or not, I doubt I can reach my old strengths in this considerably weak body." Naruto held up an arm for Gaara's inspection. "Look at this! Hardly any muscle at all. That'll be the first thing I do…get in proper physical condition."

"Good night Naruto. I suppose I'll see you at the Chuunin exams then."

Naruto feigned an offended look. "What, no more night time visits? I'm offended Gaara."

"Dobe."

"Teme!"

…AR…

Naruto yawned, stretching his arms out. He sighed and relaxed into his warm burrow of blankets. _So warm…just a few more minutes won't hurt…not like I have anywhere I have to be…except that stack of paper work, but Shika will take care of it…Oh, and I have to assign those missions this morning…how troublesome. Perhaps Neji will handle it? Yeeeees, he or Sasuke… Maybe Gaara's feeling helpful? Wish Kakashi was still…wait…Sasuke…Gaara…Kakashi…time travel….SHIT! _Naruto yelped and jumped out of bed, blindly fumbling around for his alarm clock. He lifted it up to eye level and peered at it, and cursed heavily once he saw the time. 8:59 AM.

"Crap!" Naruto exclaimed, as he ran around the room. He raced to his wardrobe and pulled out his normal orange jumpsuit…before shuddering and putting it away, wondering how he could ever have been so colour blind. He fished out a pair of dark pants and a black sleeveless shirt, throwing them on and scrambling for his shoes.

He raced into the kitchen, pausing for only a moment to stare longingly at the cup of instant ramen sitting un opened on the table, before rushing out of the house. No _way_ was he going to be later then Kakashi!

…AR…

Kakashi tapped his foot impatiently, grumbling under his breath about late students. Honestly, the boy was even later then _he _was! And that was saying something! Kakashi figured he must have either majorly over slept (Since the original meeting time was seven) or he'd forgotten completely.

He was just about to send the moody Uchiha off to find the missing orange idiot, when the errant students appeared over the hill. He walked calmly over to the small group, not appearing to have rushed in any way, and was (thankfully) wearing clothes that were less damaging to Kakashi's eyesight.

"You're late." He stated blandly, raising an eyebrow, the gesture in itself demanding an explanation.

The boy, however, merely smirked at him and offered the excuse of, "A black cat crossed my path…I had to detour around the entire village or risk years of bad luck." Kakashi's eyes narrowed. Was this little brat _challenging_ him? Him, Kakashi of the Sharingan? Him? The Copy Cat Ninja? Kakashi was having a little trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that a student who he had known for barely a day had so recklessly challenged him. Oh, but he was good. His smirk remained in place throughout the entire three minutes of Kakashi's intense stare, not an ounce of any discomfort he might be feeling showing through.

Kakashi smirked back, sending the clear message of acceptance of the challenge to his new student. Finally, Kakashi turned to his other two students, who were looking a little uncomfortable at the interaction between the genin and their sensei, and began to explain the task.

…AR…

Naruto was happy to learn that the bell test was exactly the same as it had been the first time. Kakashi ordered them to start after explaining the rules, and they all scrambled off to hide in the forest. Naruto, however, had a new plan this time. Since he already knew the ultimate aim of the test, and the fact that they would have to work as a team, it was simply a matter of convincing the others to go along with it. For the first half an hour or so he merely trailed Kakashi from a distance. He knew that Kakashi knew that he was there, for it would have been suspicious if Naruto had already known how to hide his chakra…but all the same, Naruto was itching to submit to the impulsive need to hide his chakra, so used to doing it during the war.

He had to remind himself several times that there was no longer a war, and that he was twelve years old and expected to act his age. No matter that it went against all of his survival instincts to do so.

Naruto waited until Kakashi had left after using the genjutsu on Sakura, causing her to faint, before approaching the place where she lay by a tree. He crouched beside her and prodded her, trying in vein to wake her. After a few moments of endless tapping, she finally came to, confusion written in her eyes.

"Naruto! What are you…Sasuke he's hurt!"

Naruto silenced her with a wave of his hand. "It was a genjutsu. Kakashi was simply using your weakness to his advantage. Now shut up and listen, because I think I've found the solution to this test."

"Why should I listen to you? You're a idiot."

Naruto glared heatedly at her for a moment. "Trust me, I wouldn't be helping you unless there was no other way, which there isn't. To pass this test, I think we have to group up with Uchiha and work as a team. If we work together, we can get the bells much easier."

"But there are only two bells, and three of us!" Sakura pointed out, glaring at Naruto.

"That's the point." Naruto explained. "The idea that only two of us will pass is meant to pit us against each other, so we think that we have to act alone. Think about it Sakura, why would they put us into three man teams, only to eliminate one or more of us? It's pointless. If, however, by some chance I am wrong, then I will give up my bell so you two can pass. But we have to work together, or we will never succeed."

"How can I trust you?" Sakura asked her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I give you my word Sakura, and my word is the one thing I will keep above all else." Finally, she agreed, and they set out to find Sasuke.

…AR…

Unknowingly to the two genin below, Kakashi sat in a tree not far away, his chakra concealed, and listening in on their conversation. What he heard was surprisingly in the very least, and defiantly not what he had expected of Naruto after what the Hokage and his academy sensei had told him. They had wasted no time in informing Kakashi that Naruto was loud, boastful, annoying and disregarding of the rules, but nonetheless 'a good kid' according to Iruka. They had told him that the kid, as an orphan and the Kyuubi host at that, he had received little to no attention growing up as a child, and so sought it now in everything he did. They had told him about all the pranks he had pulled and the trouble he had caused. One particularly bitter Jounin, whose parents had been killed by the Kyuubi no Kitsune, had said outright that he was an idiot who had failed the genin exam three times already. According to the Jounin, Naruto was a dim-witted, evil child who seeked to hurt those around him with his troublesome ways. He had been informed that, no doubt, the boy was selfish and would one day turn traitor to the village that housed him.

Quite frankly, Kakashi had disregarded everything the others had said, preferring to find out in his own time what the boy was truly like, and see it with his own eyes. And without a doubt, the Naruto that had been described to him was completely different to the Naruto he found himself watching intensely.

_This_ Naruto was smart, especially so to have figured out the meaning of the test so quickly. _This_ Naruto had been self_less_ rather then selfish, in that he had been willing to give up his own bell for his team mates, who both seemed to loathe him, to pass. _This_ Naruto spoke logically and thought his ideas through, to have come to the conclusion he had so quickly. _This_ Naruto had also had the nerve and skill to silently challenge him to a contest of wills, efficiently beating him at his own game so to speak.

Kakashi got the feeling that there was much more to Naruto Uzumaki then a loud, obnoxious, selfish brat, and he vowed to find out just what lay below the surface of the Kyuubi host. Oh yes, this brat would defiantly need some close observation over the next few months.

…AR…

Two hours had already passed, and Naruto was beginning to worry about the little amount of time they had left. They had started ad approximately nine thirty, and were told that the alar would go off at noon exactly. That left them just over half an hour to find Sasuke and complete their task. Sakura, at least, was being compliant and following Naruto's orders with little to no defiance. Naruto was pleased with how, already, she was looking to him for advice, despite the fact that she disliked him.

Finally, they came across Sasuke, who had been buried up to the head in dirt, just like the last time. They conversed quickly with him, and finally got his grudging acceptance for Naruto's suggestion, before digging him out. Then, the three of them put their heads together and defined a plan of action.

…AR…

Naruto gasped, trying to catch his breath as Kakashi knocked away an exhausted Sakura, sending her crashing into the tree where Sasuke already lay. Naruto cursed his small, unfit body as he found himself tiring a hundred times quicker then he was used to, and knew immediately that he could not win this battle; not in the physical condition he was currently in.

For a moment, he had forgotten that he was once again a twelve year old genin, trying to pass the genin test. He had gone all out on his sensei, using what advanced tai jutsu he could muster in this body, and a few genjutsus. He felt a small sense of pride at the fact that Kakashi had been forced to put his beloved book down, as it certainly meant that Kakashi considered him a challenge.

Sakura and Sasuke watched, exhausted, from the sidelines where they had finally given up, having no more energy to exert. Naruto, however, forced himself to keep on going, and ran at his sensei with a jumping kick that he had learned from Lee. He very nearly landed the kick, but as was expected, Kakashi dodged away just in time. Naruto grew agitated as he found it was impossible to hit his opponent, and again cursed his out of condition body. He felt his body weakening, but tried to force the results he was sued to anyway. He brought his hands together to form the seals for his trademark Shadow Clone Jutsu, silently causing ten new Naruto's to appear in the clearing, and begin attacking his opponent in earnest.

This move offered him little respite, however, as Kakashi had dealt with the ten kage bunshins within a few minutes of their creation. Naruto gritted his teeth and forced out another round of shadow clones, feeling the familiar wave of nausea that he associated with chakra depletion. It was not in him, however, to give up so easily, and so he continued. For another ten minutes he combined his tai jutsu with simple genjutsu, until he simply could not continue any longer.

He stopped and gasped for air, before straightening and wearily resuming his unique tai jutsu stance, and was about to execute a feeble kick, when the alarm went off, signalling that his time was up.

His form crumpled immediately as he let himself fall to the floor, the last thing he remembered before passing out was muttering, "This is the last time I will fail…". In fact, he wasn't even sure if he had said it, or simply thought it. Either way, he didn't really care anymore.

…AR…

Kakashi blinked slightly, as he tried to figure out what had happened. Naruto, it seemed, had passed out from chakra and physical exhaustion. He crouched beside his student just in time to here a few words escape his lips, before Naruto fell into a well deserved slumber. He lifted Naruto into his arms, and walked towards his other two students, one of which held an amazed look on her face, while the other looked grudgingly impressed.

Kakashi placed Naruto down on the ground next to them, and turned to his students.

"Wow…" Sakura whispered. "I've never seen him fight like that before! Don't you agree Sasuke?" Sasuke nodded shortly, his emotionless mask back in place. "Sensei…" Sakura continued. "What happened? Why did he faint?"

Kakashi checked Naruto's pulse and breathing, and after determining it to be at a relatively normal level, answered. "Naruto was using advanced taijutsu as well as a large amount of genjutsu. He simply pushed himself too hard and is now suffering from physical exhaustion and chakra depletion. No doubt he will be fine in a few days time." Kakashi's tone was bland and bored, but in truth, the incident had aroused quite a curiosity within him. "Take him to a healer or something…or just take him to his home and let him rest." Kakashi turned and began to walk away, before pausing. "Oh, and…you pass. You can thank Naruto though, for it was he who figured out the true aim of this test." With that, Kakashi left the small group to find somewhere to think about his new charge in peace.

Te minutes later, found Kakashi on top of the Hokage mountain. He was, again, thinking about the Kyuubi host. What he had seen during their battle had surprised Kakashi immensely; Naruto had been using very advanced taijutsu as well as genjutsu he probably shouldn't know yet. Kakashi had no idea what was with the taijutsu, since Iruka had pronounced Naruto to have been less then proficient at the hand to hand fighting arts. The display that Kakashi had just seen, however, was very advanced. He had studied it closely with his Sharingan, and had determined that it was many different fighting styles merged into one. He had seen some that had resembled his rival, Maito Gai's style of taijutsu, mixed in with Kakashi's own style, the style of the Uchiha clan and even a small amount of the Hyuuga's hand to hand techniques. Mixed in with all that was some unique fighting style that had to be Naruto's own…but where on earth did he learn to not only control a small amount of chakra in his hands, but use it to effectively hit and disable the chakra points in Kakashi's arm? Kakashi had onlyseen members of the Hyuuga clan do this, and only with their Byakugan. Oh yes, this Naruto Uzumaki was _defiantly_ worth investigating.


	3. Maybe Even Friends

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Chapter three: Maybe Even Friends**

Naruto sighed and groaned as je awoke, desperately trying to hold on to his pleasant dream just a little longer. Finally, he gave up the struggle and opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed, was that he was incredibly hungry. The second, was that there was someone sitting beside his bed.

"Good morning Naruto." Kakashi said from over his little orange book.

"Morning sensei…" Naruto yawned. "What happened? All I remember is the alarm going off while I was fighting you and then…" His voice trailed off as he realised what had happened. "Oh, man!" He groaned. "How long was I out?"

Kakashi peered at him closely over the book, his eyes looked slightly suspicious. "Well that's the odd thing Naruto, you see, you were only out a few hours. You probably should have been out for a few days though, what with the physical exhaustion and chakra depletion."

Naruto frowned before sighing slightly. "That, my dear sensei, is one of the advantages of having a cute little demon locked up inside of me. Speedy healing, see?" He grabbed a kunai from his bedside table, and slashed a shallow cut across his palm. He then held it out to Kakashi to show him the wound quickly closing up, leaving only the blood behind.

Kakashi blinked, staring at the remains of the self inflicted wound on Naruto's hand with a strange look on his face. "Okay then. Well, mystery solved. There is, however, still one question that remains unanswered."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smirk playing on his face. "What would that be sensei?"

"The mystery of where and how you suddenly learnt advanced tai jutsu." Kakashi frowned, peering closely at Naruto as he searched for any hint of deceit on the boy's face.

Naruto scrambled quickly for an excuse, before blurting out the first decent one that came to his mind. "That too can be credited to the Kyuubi. See, everything he knows, I know. I only really learnt how to access his knowledge recently though, as I only really have known about Kyuubi for a few days."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he easily picked out the lie. He couldn't, however, accuse his student without proof. "Alright Naruto, I'll give you that…for now. I must be off, thing to do…people to see." With that he turned and jumped out of the window, disappearing out of sight.

…AR…

"Gai." Kakashi inclined his head slightly to the other Jounin, taking a seat beside him at the picnic table.

"My rival Kakashi! Have you come to seek out advice from me? If so, then I will provide you with as much useful information as I possibly can! Or my name is not Maito Gai!" Kakashi rolled his eyes. Gai could be so _annoying!_

"Ah, no. Not exactly." Kakashi muttered, picking up his book. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, before Kakashi finally broke it with a question. "Would you tell me the names of every single ninja you have ever taught your unique style of taijutsu to?"

Gai looked confused for a moment, before grinning madly. "Rival Kakashi! You have finally realised that my skills are far better then yours! While I will be the first to admit you have your own skills, your taijutsu can not compare to my own!"

Kakashi sighed. "Just answer the question please."

"Hmm…well, if you want to count _everyone_ then that would be…my genin team."

"That's all?"

"That is all."

Kakashi sighed and stood up. "Well thanks for the help, I suppose." He muttered, before disappearing.

…AR…

"Alright guys, today you have your very first mission." At this statement, Sakura looked excited, Sasuke seemed interested, and Naruto groaned. For Naruto knew exactly what kind of mission they would be receiving for the next few months.

"It's a very important mission that will test all of your skills as a ninja…" Naruto sighed and tuned him out, entertaining himself with thoughts of all the different ways he could eradicate the Fire Lady's cat. "…The mission will be to…find and rescue the Fire Lady's cat."

Naruto groaned and trudged along after his less then enthusiastic team, almost wishing he had never been persuaded into this mad attempt at setting things right. Sure, Gaara was scary, but Naruto wasn't the Rokudaime for nothing.

An hour later, they were still running around the forest like headless chickens as they searched for the damned elusive cat. Naruto finally gave up on his individual efforts, and called the rest of his team over to him.

"Look guys, we aren't getting anywhere like this. Remember what happened last time we worked as a team?" Naruto asked, staring them down with his powerful 'Hokage stare'.

Sakura frowned. "Uh…we got our buts kicked and _still_ didn't manage to get the bell?"

Naruto growled slightly, whacking her on the arm. "No stupid, we passed the genin test."

"Oh…" Sakura said thoughtfully. "But we still didn't achieve the objective…"

"Just shut up and listen." Naruto snapped, his impatience getting the best of him. "Okay, we're going to approach from three different angles. Sakura, you from the west, me from the North and Sasuke from the South-"

"Who died and made _you_ leader!" Sasuke exclaimed, his eyes burning with an intense light. "There is no way I am following the command of an idiot. Or did you _forget_ that you were the idiot who _failed_ the Genin exam _three times!_"

"Well have you got a better idea?" Naruto snapped, producing an air of hostility aimed at his dark haired team mate.

"Yes actually, I have!" Sasuke hissed, his voice cold and his tone icy.

"Well let's here it then!" Naruto challenged, taking a step closer to the enraged Uchiha.

Sakura's eyes widened as she felt the increasing killer intent rising form the two boys, and stepped in quickly. "Sasuke-kun, maybe you should-"

"_Don't_ tell me what to do!" Sasuke yelled, at the same time as Naruto exclaimed, "Just stay out of it!"

Sakura sighed and jumped backwards, letting them go at their bickering.

"I am _not_ following your orders like a silly little sheep. Our only leader is Kakashi, and if there was to be another, it would be _me!_" Sasuke yelled, his anger rising.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto mocked. "Who was it that got us through the genin test? Who had to come and dig _you_ out of that silly dirt pile!"

"Need I remind you which one of us got the _highest_ score at the academy and which of us ranked _dead last_?"  
"Test scores don't matter! What _matters_ is whether you can look danger in the eye and still be brave! What _matters_ is if you can be shitting yourself with fear and still manage to keep fighting! What _matters_ is if you can let go of your own goals and make the ultimate sacrifice. Could you do that? Somehow I don't think so, Mr. Leave-me-alone-my-brother-killed-my-parents. You think you're so unlucky, you think you have it the worst here, don't you? Well let me tell you, there's always _someone_ who has it worse. Yeah, your brother killed your family. Yeah, you're the only Uchiha left. So _what!_ If you think that your tragic past entitles you to walk all over me like I'm nothing, then you've got another thing coming. I've had it just as bad as you Sasuke Uchiha. I don't have any family; I don't even have any _friends_. The whole village despises me for something I don't even have any control over. You think you have it so bad Sasuke, but try taking a moment to look around you. Half of our academy class would have _killed_ just to have you speak to them, and yet you go around thinking you're so much better then all of them. You say you want to avenge your family's deaths, but what does it _matter_ if you kill your brother, if you have nothing to show for it afterwards? You know what will happen once you actually kill your brother? You will no longer have anything to live for. I may suck at written tests, but I can kick your ass any day Sasuke Uchiha. Keep that in mind next time you want to walk all over _me!_" With that said, Naruto turned around and leaped into a nearby tree, still radiating fury.

Sasuke glared at the spot where Naruto had been a second ago, before turning on his heel and striding off in the other direction, leaving Sakura to finish the mission herself.

…AR…

Sasuke paced wildly throughout his home, still furious at the idiot blonde. _How dare he! The nerve of that…that idiot! He thinks he knows me, but he knows nothing! He doesn't even know what he's talking about. Sure, the kid's an orphan too, but did his older brother massacre his entire family? I didn't think so. And what a hypocrite too! There he is, telling me off for thinking I'm unlucky, when at the same time he's whining about all the things gone wrong in __**his**__ life! Ha. He thinks he has it worse then I do. Puh-lease. So he hasn't go any parents and no one really likes him. It's his own fault anyway! If he wasn't so loud and obnoxious, if he wasn't so selfish and self-obsessed, maybe he'd have some friends._

Sasuke's inner rant was interrupted by a small voice at the back of his head.

_He hasn't been like that though…not recently. He's really changed since becoming a genin!_

Sasuke shook his head.

_No, it's all an act. He must be trying to impress Kakashi or something._ Sasuke's mindless pacing stopped as he reached that conclusion, and he smirked at having won his inner battle. The kid was an idiot. Full stop.

He ledt his house with a feeling of uncertainty though, for there was still a voice in the back of his head whispering, _he's right…_

…AR…

Things continued this way for a little over a week, with Sasuke and Naruto pointedly ignoring each other. When they were forced to interact with one another, they did so grudgingly and fought the entire time. Finally, Kakashi had had enough. On the Friday exactly a week after the original argument, Kakashi took both students by the arm and dragged them to Kakashi's own house. He took them to the guest bedroom, and locked hem in, informing them that they would not be let out until they had settled everything between them.

Suffice it to say, neither were pleased. The first hour consisted of verbal fighting.

"Yeah? Well at least I'm not a moody teme!"

"Dobe! you are such a hypocrite!"

"Shut up stupid!"

"You're such an idiot!"

"Sasuke-bastard!"

"Dead last!"

"Emotionally unbalanced hypocritical revenge obsessed emotionless ice cube with a superiority complex!"

"You just said I was _emotionally unbalanced_ and then you called me _emotionless?_ You are _such_ an idiot!"

The second hour was nothing but physical fighting.

"That kick didn't even come _close_ to be dobe!" _Bang! _"Itai!"

"I may have missed the first time, but never again!" _Thwack!_

"Idiot! You nearly stabbed me!" _Whoosh!_

"Don't throw shuriken in the house!"

"I can throw what ever I want to throw! What are you, scared?"

"Shut up teme! I'll get you for that!" _Wham! _

Finally, they had exhausted themselves and took to ignoring each other. Eventually, Naruto grew bored and broke the silence between them. "Why do you have to be such a bastard all the time, Sasuke?"

Sasuke glared at Naruto coldly. "I do not care what you think. My only goal is to kill Itachi. Nothing else matters."

Naruto shook his head sadly. "Well isn't that a poor excuse for an existence?"

"What makes you say that?" Sasuke snapped, glaring at Naruto sharply.

"Think about it." Naruto muttered, turning away slightly. "Let's say you want to fulfil this dream so desperately, that you head down the wrong path in order to gain the power you would need. Now let's say you succeed, and kill your brother. Then what? You can't go back to Konoha, since you would have betrayed them in order to get the power you needed. Even if you were to come back, what then? You've just said that nothing matters except your ambition. So what happens once it's fulfilled? If that indeed is your reason for living, then once you've done it, you no longer have one do you."

"I've never thought of it that way." Sasuke admitted, averting his eyes. "I suppose I would go back to doing everything I'd been doing before I left."

"But what have you been doing except training to achieve your goal?"

"I'd find _something_! I wouldn't commit suicide or anything if that's what you're getting at. And besides, who gave you the right to judge me? What makes you think that _you_ can understand how I feel?"

"I wish I could tell you Sasuke." Naruto muttered, sighing slightly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Sasuke's curiosity got the best of him. "What can't you tell me dobe?"

Naruto sighed. "You know how all the villagers hate me? Well I don't know if you'd noticed, but it's true. Hardly any of the shops will serve me…just things like that. Well, there's a reason for it. Something I had no say in and can't control. But they don't care, they just want someone to blame and I guess I'm the scapegoat. It doesn't matter though, it's not so bad as I make it sound. And besides; the thing they hate me for? It has its advantages, and I'll be the first to say that the advantages are well worth the price."

Sasuke shook his head in confusion. "Naruto…when did you get like this? So…philosophical? I'm positive I've never heard you talk like this since before you graduated. In fact, you seem to have changed a whole lot since you graduated."

"Hey!" Naruto said in mock indignation. "Is it so hard to believe that I might have finally matured a little?" At Sasuke's shrewd look, he sighed. "I suppose it is then."

"Well whatever it is, it has its positive sides I suppose…" Sasuke muttered.

"Oh? And what would they be?"

"Well for one, you've stopped wearing that hideous orange jumpsuit." Naruto shuddered slightly at the thought. "You're also less…annoying I suppose."

Naruto grinned widely. Knowing that that was about as much of a compliment he would get from Sasuke. "Does this mean we're not enemies?" Naruto asked, desperate to know but still wanting to sound childlike. The small amount of time that he and Sasuke had been true enemies had been almost impossible for Naruto to bear.

Sasuke regarded him coolly for a moment before nodding. "I suppose we're not enemies."

"Maybe even…friends?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Sasuke sighed. "Maybe."

"Then that's good enough for me."

…AR…

The next day went smoothly for team seven. They were all on much better terms, and Sasuke and Naruto were conversing politely and even asking for each others opinions. Kakashi thought it was a little sudden and strange, but he sure wasn't complaining.

"Alright team," He addressed them as such, for they were finally acting as one. "Today we don't have a mission, but instead we have training. We're going to be working on taijutsu. I've arranged for another genin team, squad eight, to train with us, so that we can set up some mock battles." He motioned over to where four people were standing; Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga were standing with their sensei, Kurenai Yuhi. The red eyed woman was staring them down appraisingly, seemingly picking out all of their faults.

Kakashi called the team over, and they were all paired up. Naruto found himself facing Hinata Hyuuga, while Sasuke was up against Kiba, and Sakura sith Shino.

"Alright," Kakashi said. "There will be no bloodlines," He glanced at Kiba and Shino, "used, it will be simply taijutsu. Hinata Hyuuga, however, may use her Byakugan bloodline, as it is tied in with the Hyuuga taijutsu."

Unknown to the genins, Kakashi's real reason of inviting team eight to train with them, was to compare Naruto's taijutsu with one of the Hyuuga clan. He watched with interest as Naruto faced Hinata, poised in his own taijutsu stance. Hinata, however, seemed incredibly disheartened at fighting Naruto. Naruto, however, soon remedied this.

"What's wrong Hinata-chan? Afraid to hit me?" He jeered as she deliberately missed her first strike. "Come one Hinata-chan, I know exactly how the Byakugan works, I know that you can see my chakra points right now…so why don't you hit them? Come _on_ Hinata-chan! Give me your best, or nothing at all!" When this appeared to have little effect, Naruto tried again. "Perhaps what they say is true and you really _are_ weak. I mean, you can't even fight me, and I'm dead last! If you can't even hit me, then you don't deserve to fight me!" Finally, a response. Hinata struck out quickly and directly hit one of the chakra points in Naruto's arm. While she seemed horrified by this, however, Naruto simply laughed. "That's the spirit!"

Now came the interesting part. As the fight progressed, both of them upped the skill level, until Hinata was fighting as hard as she could. Seemingly unconsciously, Naruto slipped into the Hyuuga stance and began to mirror Hinata's movements, hitting chakra points more often then not…despite the fact that he had no the Byakugan to see them with. He used the carefully laid strokes powered with chakra that were unique to the Hyuuga clan, mirroring her moves perfectly. Though while Hinata soon became tired, Naruto showed no sign of slowing down. Finally, Hinata faltered and Naruto hit her square on one of the untouched chakra points in her right arm, disabling the chakra flow.

The other genins had stopped to watch this fight, never having seen Hinata fight with so much motivation before. But still, despite her efforts, Naruto won the fight.

The fight had served its purpose though, and Kakashi had been able to determine that Naruto was insanely good at the Hyuuga's style of taijutsu. This, however, should be impossible, considering he lacked the bloodline that made it possible to see the chakra points. That meant he had either an insanely good memory to remember where Hinata was hitting him, or he already _knew_ where all the main chakra points were.

Kakashi shook himself out of it, thinking that perhaps he was simply reading into it too much and making a big deal out of a little raw talent. Either way, Kakashi knew he wouldn't be satisfied until he unlocked the mystery of Naruto Uzumaki.

**A/N: Ugh…I really hate this chapter. I hope I didn't stuff up the character interactions too much, I tried to keep them in character as much as possible.**

**A lot of you have queried about Gaara's out of character ness. ****I know he's a little OOC, but try to understand my reasoning. Gaara has spent many years by Naruto's side as they fought the war together. Naruto is his best friend and the two know each other incredibly well. Gaara, while yes he has emotions and a sense of humour towards Naruto, reverts back to his old self when in the company of others. **

**I also hope Sasuke wasn't too OOC in this chapter, but hey it's fan fiction and I'm the author, so I can do what I like. **


	4. A Dangerous Decision

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Kakashi/Iruka (hinted only) …and that's really the only pairing I've decided on.**

**A/N: Alright, just letting you know that there will be lots of Naruto/Sasuke interaction. I want them to be friends and quickly, so the only way to do this is to have the, interact with each other.**

**Chapter Four: A Dangerous Decision**

That afternoon, Naruto found himself sitting on the edge of the Hokage mountain; his favourite thinking spot. He had picked up the habit from Kakashi, who had always used to come up here to think. He swung his legs idly, a frown marring his normally smiling face. His eyes held a far away look in them, as if he were pondering something serious. And indeed, he was.

As he had finished fighting Hinata, he had quite suddenly and unexpectedly come to the revelation, that throughout the course of his little expedition, he would have to choose who lived and who died. Since the thought had occurred to him, he had found himself thinking about the mission they would undertake at the Wave country, and the circumstances surrounding Zabuza and Haku's death. Though he hadn't known the two shinobi for long, and admittedly, most of that time they had spent on opposite sides of the battlefield, he still felt that he should do something to stop their untimely end. He couldn't, however, possibly hope to fathom the consequences that one act of kindness could bring upon his village.

As much as he didn't wish to see Zabuza and Haku die, he knew that he may have to. He sighed heavily as he thought of what an oxymoron the whole thing was; He had the power to change everything, yet could change nothing at all. Another pressing thought on his mind, was whether or not to save the Sandaime. He knew he should leave things as they were in that aspect, for Konoha desperately needed Tsunade as the godaime. But he couldn't imagine willingly sacrificing Sarutobi, who was the one person who had not treated him like a demon, save Iruka. He thought the whole thing was just too complicated, and wished, not for the first time, that he could have sent someone else back to change it all. Someone else to make these decisions. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that Gaara would have been the perfect candidate. Gaara, harboured no close ties with anyone in the village, and could therefore sacrifice the easily without the pain of heart that Naruto went through. Gaara, would have been able to make the _right_ decisions, without suffering by way of his conscience. Gaara was a killer. Naruto, while he had killed, essentially wasn't.

Naruto let out yet another long suffering sigh, and was about to release a fourth, when he sensed another's presence nearby.

He turned around, smiling faintly when he saw the identity of the approaching shinobi. Sasuke was wearing his ever present emotionless mask as he silently walked over and sat beside Naruto, barely acknowledging the blonde's presence. They sat that way for a long time, revelling in the peaceful silence. They lay in silence for hours, until finally; they watched the golden sun dip behind the horizon, leaving the city faintly illuminated by he light of the crescent moon. Finally, once all traces of the sun were gone from the sky, Sasuke turned to Naruto.

"Kakashi was looking for you." The statement was said neutrally, giving the impression that Sasuke didn't really care about whether Kakashi was looking for Naruto.

"Hm." Naruto murmured, his gaze still locked on the stars above them.

It was a few minutes before Sasuke spoke again, his apathetic tone underlined with a faint sense of curiosity that the Uchiha couldn't quite conceal. "Who taught you to fight?" It was about as close to a compliment as anyone would get from Sasuke, and Naruto, despite himself, found himself pleased by it.

Naruto shrugged, disinclined to offer an answer. Sasuke waited a few more minutes before sighing impatiently. "I know you couldn't do that at the academy."

Naruto fidgeted slightly, playing with the zipper on his jacket. "You know the thing I told you about…the thing I _couldn't_ tell you about?" Sasuke nodded. "It has to do with that."

Sasuke sighed, frowning slightly. "You know, team mates shouldn't have secrets." He muttered, sounding annoyed.

Naruto smirked. "Yeah, you can talk." He said dryly. "But yeah, I agree."

Sasuke grunted unintelligently. "Okay fine. You tell me your secret, I'll tell you mine."

Naruto frowned. It was kind of unfair to Sasuke, considering Naruto pretty much already knew all of Sasuke's secrets, and there was no way he was telling them about Kyuubi…yet. He had actually been thinking about subtly letting them know about the demon, so that he could accredit any surprising skills he may slip up and show to Kyuubi. Finally, he reasoned it couldn't hurt to leave a clue, and nodded. "Alright, but you first."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "How do I know that you'll keep to your end of the bargain?"

"I give you my word as a shinobi." Naruto announced, placing his hand over his heart.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and agreed. "Fine. Alright…my secret. Well, which secret do you want to know?"

"How come you're so afraid to get close to any one?" Naruto asked, leaning forward slightly in anticipation.

Sasuke's eyes grew slightly colder as he formulated a response. "Killing Itachi is my primary concern. Everything else is a weakness and a distraction. If I make friends, then I've automatically given Itachi a weakness to use against me. If I get involved in _anything_, I loose focus on the goal. Focus must re retained at all times, or I'll never succeed." Sasuke's quiet voice was icy and tightly controlled, a strange emotion brewing in his fathomless eyes.

"Here we go again…" Naruto muttered, earning a furious glare form the Uchiha. "Look, you always _say_ things like that! Have you already forgotten everything I said the other night? Killing Itachi is _not_ the most important thing right now. The most important thing, should be focusing on your training as a ninja in order to reach that goal. Instead of avoiding friendships, you should be initiating them so that you have someone to back you up!"

Sasuke shook his head, giving the blonde a strange look. "How can you say things like that when you…you…" His voice trailed off as he looked away uncertainly.

"…don't have any friends myself?" Naruto sighed. "Well it's not from lack of trying, let me tell you."

They say in silence for a few minutes, before Sasuke finally redirected the conversation. "So what's this big secret you have then?"

Naruto shrugged. "Well for one thing, I can guarantee you won't like it. I don't know if I should tell you…did you know that there's actually a law prohibiting people from speaking of it?"

"Must be pretty big then…" Sasuke muttered.

Naruto nodded. "You could say that. Alright Sasuke, I'm going to trust you. But first, you're going to have to promise you'll treat me the same once you know." Naruto regarded him closely, knowing he could be making a potentially huge mistake here. "You also have to promise not to tell _anyone,_ and I mean _anyone_ about this. I also just want you to know that I'm still the same person…so try and understand okay? I only found out myself a few days ago and I guess you could say I'm still coming to terms with it."

Sasuke rolled his eyes impatiently. "Just tell me!" he snapped, what little patience he had been harbouring disappearing as a result of the blonde's stalling.

"Alright…" Naruto sighed and began to tell Sasuke his second biggest secret. The first, of course being the whole time travel incident and the fact that he was from the future. "You know the story of the Kyuubi right? How the Yondaime killed him at the cost of his own life?" Sasuke nodded. "That was a lie. What _really_ happened, was that the Yondaime knew he couldn't kill it, for its demonic chakra would simply regenerate its body. So, he decided to do the only thing he could possibly think of; sealing the demon's essence into a newborn baby. That baby….was me."

…AR…

Sakura sighed as she wandered around the village, searching for Sasuke. She had hoped to catch him after training, wanting to invite him to get dinner together, but he had disappeared shortly after Naruto had. Sakura was a little confused about Sasuke and Naruto's relationship; as far as she knew, one day they were enemies and the next they were friends.

Sakura squinted into the distance and saw two dark figures on top of the Hokage mountain. She frowned, thinking it could be Naruto and Sasuke and headed over. Once she reached the base of the mountain, she heard the sound of faint voices drifting down with the wind. After listening for a moment, she recognised their voices as indeed being Naruto and Sasuke, and decided to listen in, hoping to get an answer to the question of their sudden friendship.

"_You also have to promise not to tell anyone, and I mean anyone about this. I also just want you to know that I'm still the same person…so try and understand okay? I only found out myself a few days ago and I guess you could say I'm still coming to terms with it."_ That was Naruto…right? Since when did that idiot ever sound so serious?

"_Just tell me!"_ Why was Naruto telling Sasuke secrets anyway? And what could be so important that _she_ wasn't allowed to know?

"_Alright… You know the story of the Kyuubi right? How the Yondaime killed him at the cost of his own life_?" What did that story have to do with anything?

"_That was a lie. What really happened, was that the Yondaime knew he couldn't kill it, for its demonic chakra would simply regenerate its body. So, he decided to do the only thing he could possibly think of; sealing the demon's essence into a newborn baby_." Sakura blinked. Well that's certainly a different perception of the story! But Naruto's next words, shocked her more.

"_That baby….was me_." **WHAT!? **

…AR…

Kakashi was sitting at his dining table, enjoying a bowl of nice hot –Insert Japanese food here-. He was just about to take his first bite, when a furious knocking reached his ears. Kakashi frowned, standing up slowly and walking to the door. Perhaps it was Iruka? He sure hoped so…

"Kakashi sensei!" Nope, must be one of the brats…and Sakura by the sound of it.

He pulled the door open slowly, raising an eyebrow at his panicked, breathless student. "Yes Sakura?"

"Sensei! It's Naruto! He…he…!" Her eyes were wide with fear and her voice trembled. Kakashi frowned and placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"Calm down Sakura, and tell me what happened."

"Naruto…h-he, he's…he's a demon!" Kakashi was shocked at her outburst, and would have been doing a good impersonation of a gaping fish, had he had less self control.

"Who told you that!" He hissed, pulling her inside.

"N-Naruto himself! Well…he was really telling Sasuke, but I over heard! And…and…is it true?!" Sakura's widened eyes held a hint of fear, as well as a great deal of shock.

Kakashi sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Yes Sakura, it is." He said simply.

"What! But…then he should be…I don't know! Restrained!"

"Are you suggesting we lock up your own team mate?" Kakashi asked, a hint of fury behind his words. "Naruto has not gone crazy and eaten us all yet, has he? So what makes you think he'll start now? Naruto is _not_ a demon, merely a boy who has had a demon sealed within him. You must understand that there is a vast difference between the two."

"B-but…he's evil! Kyuubi's evil!" She exclaimed, her voice wavering slightly.

"That may be true, but I thought we were talking about Naruto, not Kyuubi."

"But…if all that's true…then why didn't he tell us!"

"This is exactly the reason why he didn't tell you; because he knew that _this_ would be your reaction! As well as that, there's also the fact that Iruka tells me he only found out about the Kyuubi not even a week ago."

A few moments later, Sakura had calmed down a little and was more willing to listen to reason. "W-what am I going to do?"

"I'd suggest, that you act just as normal, as if nothing's changed…for really, nothing _has_ changed. Naruto is still the same boy you knew yesterday, you just know more about him now. I think you should tell him that you know, and let him know that you're okay with it. And you _are_ okay with it, right?"

Sakura sighed wearily. "I-I guess so…I think I need to think about this."

"Take all the time you need." Kakashi said gently. "Just remember, Naruto values your opinion. Before you act, make sure you think about the effects harsh or fearful words could have on him. He was obviously afraid of your reaction, or he would have told you already. Try and remember that, demon host or not, Naruto is still a human being."

…AR…

By the next morning, the tension within team seven was almost tangible. The three didn't talk much, and instead focussed on their separate training. Naruto knew something was amiss, however, for Sakura kept sending him odd and often fearful glances. Sasuke was even more silent and brooding then normal, and Kakashi was ignoring them all completely. Naruto growled as he felt Sakura's eyes piercing holes in his back yet again. Finally, he turned and gave an exasperated sigh.

"What is it Sakura?" He asked, tapping his foot in irritation.

Sakura began fiddling idly with her hair. "Oh, nothing Naruto…" She muttered, turning away. Naruto frowned and mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.

"Come on Sakura, you've been staring at me all morning." Kakashi looked up with dull interest and the two turned to each other, while Sasuke just kept pounding the wooden dummy.

Sakura sighed nervously, stepping back just a little. "W-well, last night…I kind of, sort of, over heard part of your conversation with Sasuke…" She muttered barely audible.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "_Which _part?"

Sakura glanced up quickly, before returning her stare to her feet again. "ThepartwhereyoutoldimboutKyuubi"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I didn't quite catch that."

"The part…where you told Sasuke…about Kyuubi."

Naruto's eyes widened and he stepped back reflexively, automatically assuming the worst.

"No! But," She hastily explained, "I don't care, honestly! Like Kakashi told me; you're still the same Naruto you were yesterday, I just know more about you now."

"R-really?" There was such hop in Naruto's sky coloured eyes that Sakura couldn't bring herself to crush it.

"Really." She said firmly, nodding her head.

…AR…

After that incident, the team fell into a peaceful routine. The team dynamics changed and shifted for the first few weeks, until it finally settled into something they could all handle. Naruto and Sasuke were rivals, but at the same time, friends. Sakura had a crush on Sasuke, and found Naruto annoying, but she tolerated him for the most part. Sasuke found Sakura rather irritating, but he held back the biting comments that died on his tongue. Naruto appeared to have gotten over his crush on Sakura, and the others eventually had gotten used to his higher level of maturity. Kakashi was as lazy and uncaring as always, but he always had good advice for them when he felt like volunteering it. He teased Naruto and pushed Sasuke to his limits; that was just how it was, and that was how they liked it.

They became a very effective team when they worked together, and respected each other's strengths and weaknesses. Kakashi found himself increasingly impressed with he way they seemed to fit together once they made the attempt to get along. While Kakashi still hadn't found all the answers he was looking for, he was content to just sit back and let everything play out as fate willed, deciding not to interfere too much.

Over the next month and a bit, team seven undertook many incredibly boring and unchallenging missions. They rescued the fire lady's cat a grand total of sixteen times, weeded nine gardens, did the grocery shopping for twelve elderly citizens, and picked up rubbish around many areas of Konoha.

On the days that they didn't have any missions, they trained. Kakashi was working on different things with each genin, working to their strengths and weaknesses. With Sakura he fought to improve her considerably lacking taijutsu, beginning with simple offensive and defensive manoeuvres. With Sasuke he was working on weapon fighting, close quarters kunai fighting and projectiles. Naruto was forced to work on his genjutsu; for while he knew a few good jutsus (as far as Kakashi knew anyway) his knowledge was rather limited.

Suffice it to say, they were all quite excited and relieved when Kakashi informed them that they would be undertaking their first ever C rank mission…except Naruto, who still hadn't been able to reach a decision about Zabuza and Haku. Naruto finally admitted to himself that he just couldn't make the choice, and decided to let things play out which ever way fate had chosen.

"Alright team," Kakashi said as was the usual. "Today we have a mission…A C rank mission. It could be dangerous, I don't really know. We have to go up to the Hokage's office and get the mission report."

With that, Kakashi turned and started walking in the direction to the Hokage's tower, motioning for he three genin to follow obediently behind.

Once they reached the Hokage's office, they stood in a line in front of the Hokage. Kakashi stared ahead disinterestedly, while Sakura looked nervous and Sasuke stared down the strange old man standing beside the Hokage. Naruto smirked, catching Sasuke's eye and grinning.

As the Hokage stepped forward, Sakura nudged them and bowed sightly, silently demanding that they did the same. Sasuke sighed and followed her order, Naruto copying Sasuke. Once they had all straightened, the Hokage turned to the old man that Naruto knew as Tazuna.

"Tazuna-san, this is Hatake Kakashi and his genin team, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura. They will be escorting you to your home in Wave country. Team Seven, this is Tazuna-san, the man you will be protecting."

A short scuffle followed the introduction, in which Tazuna complained about how inexperienced they all were, and how they couldn't handle the mission…and just basically being an arrogant bastard. Naruto knew he'd warm up to them once they saved his life a few times though.

Finally they left the Hokage's office and started down the road. Walking at the back of the group, Naruto looked up at the cloudless sky and muttered, "And so the Wave Fiasco has begun." He sighed and shook his head. "Let's just hope it runs more smoothly then the last time."


	5. Raccoons and Riots

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Kakashi/Iruka (hinted only) …and that's really the only pairing I've decided on.**

**A/N: It's been a while since I watched the Wave Country saga, so forgive me if I make mistakes. Right about now VEOH is stuffing up on me so I can't watch the episodes, and all I can recall of the journey to the City of the Waves is something about a puddle, a rabbit, and some ninjas. –shrug- What I do remember, is that it was incredibly boring. So let's spice it up a bit, hmm?**

**Chapter Five: Raccoons and Riots**

They had been walking for a few hours, mostly in silence except for the annoying remarks of Tazuna. The Old Bridge Builder, as he had boasted to be, was either boasting about his accomplishments, complaining about the weather, or remarking on how young and inexperienced the three genin were. Naruto had just about had enough of him, when Kakashi called for a break.

The five of them stopped by a river and dumped their packs on the ground. They sat down and ate some travel rations from their packs, and were forced to endure Tazuna's complaints about the quality of the food. Finally, they had all finished, and so Kakashi called the three of them over to a near by tree.

"Alright guys, today we're going to learn how to climb a tree." He said in a bored, uncaring manner.

"But…we already know how to climb trees!" Sakura protested, glaring at her sensei.

Kakashi blinked slightly. "You do?" He asked, one eye brow raised. The three genin glared vehemently at him. "Oh yes…you do. Well, no matter then. Let's move on to water walking." From a few metres away, Tazuna shook his head at the Jounin that appeared quite…idiotic. The genin followed their sensei to the river, where they stood in a line.

"Now, water walking is a little bit different to tree climbing. I guess you could say, it's almost the opposite. See, when you try and climb a tree, gravity is trying to push you _away_ from the tree. When you try and water walk, gravity is trying to push you towards the water. Get it?"

Sakura frowned. Naruto decided to try and make it a bit clearer for her. "So instead of trying to stick onto the tree, you have to be pushing away from the water…right?"

Kakashi nodded. "That's right Naruto. It's also easier if you gather your chakra in the widest area possible on your feet. The larger the area the chakra is spread across, the easier it is. You'll find you need to use quite a bit more chakra with this then tree climbing."

Sasuke went first, stepping up to the water. He gathered chakra in his feet, and placed a foot on the water, using his momentum to throw the other foot over as well. His feet sprang up from the surface and held for a few moments, before he fell down and plunged into the water. He emerged scowling and gasping for breath and made his way back to the river bank.

"Naruto. Tell me what Sasuke did wrong." Kakashi said, gesturing for Naruto to speak.

"He used too much chakra. While it's true you need more chakra then tree climbing, too much will propel you from the surface, causing you to loose your balance and fall into the water." Kakashi peered at Naruto for a few moments, before nodding.

"Interesting that you would know that…?" Kakashi murmured.

Naruto blushed and caught his mistake quickly. "Well it's kinda obvious sensei! You just said it was the opposite of tree climbing, so what happens when you use too much chakra to tree climb? You get pushed too far _in_ to the tree and break the wood."

The tension between the faded as they heard Sakura squeal. "Oh! Look, it's so _cute!_" She pointed excitedly to where a small animal sat near Tazuna.

"Oh!" Naruto gushed. "What a cute little raccoon-" _Wait, raccoon?!_ Naruto's eyes widened as he peered at the little creature. He knew immediately what was wrong with the raccoon when he saw that its fur colour was red where a normal raccoon's would be black. "What the hell are _you _doing here!" Naruto shouted, glaring at the raccoon as it trotted a few steps closer.

The raccoon stopped and tilted its head cutely. "Oh no you don't!" Naruto exclaimed, marching up to the animal. "What are you doing here!" The little animal whined. To the other occupants of the small clearing, the noise meant nothing. But to Naruto, the meaning was clear.

"You were _bored!_ You followed me here 'cause you were _bored!?" _The raccoon rubbed its little face on Naruto's leg. In that instant, Naruto melted. "Well…I guess you can stay…aww you're just so cute!" The raccoon's eyes widened and it jumped back as Naruto leant down to hug it.

"Fine, no hugging." Naruto grumbled, glaring at the animal. "And you find your _own_ food, you hear me! I am not sharing my rations with you." Naruto walked off, continuing his one sided conversation with the raccoon, leaving four decidedly shocked people behind.

It had been half an hour since the raccoon incident, and Kakashi was thinking of sending Sasuke and Sakura out to find Naruto and his little friend, who had not yet come back. He was spared the trouble, however, when Konoha's number one hyperactive unpredictable knuckleheaded ninja himself walked out of the forest, his strange red raccoon in tow.

"I'm back!" He announced, causing everyone to look at him. Sakura jumped up with a squeal when she saw the raccoon, but was stopped from hugging it when it hissed at her…yes, _hissed_. Don't ask me how it managed to hiss, but it did.

"Is that raccoon your _pet,_ Naruto?" Sakura asked peering at the adorable little animal.

"Not really…he comes and goes when he wants to mostly." Naruto said, walking over to his pack.

"What's his name?" Sakura asked as she crouched down and gingerly began to stroke the raccoon's fur.

Naruto glanced over to the animal before shrugging. "Gaara I guess." **(AN: HA! Did you see THAT one coming!? If you did well then…you're a poo.)**

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "What kind of a name is that?"

Naruto shrugged. "It suits him." Nothing more was said on the matter, but Naruto cringed every time Sakura tried to hug little Gaara.

…AR…

That night, Naruto fell asleep almost immediately, the little raccoon curled up beside him. The moment he closed his eyes, he found himself in a familiar dark room. He waited only a few minutes, before Gaara arrived, looking quite disgruntled.

"Can you please tell that _infuriating_ girl to keep her filthy paws _off_ me!"

Naruto glared at the red head in front of him. "Hey, it's not _my_ fault you decided to come and keep me company under the henge of a freaking _raccoon_!"

Gaara looked away angrily. "Whatever."

Naruto sighed. "Why'd you come anyway? I don't need your help…not that you'd be much help as a raccoon, anyway."

Gaara shrugged. "I was bored. Baki kept giving us stupid assassinations, and those are hell boring…so I did that shadow clone thing you taught me and decided to come and join in on the fun over here. Besides, I knew you'd be having trouble with deciding who you should save and who you should leave to die."

Naruto rolled his eyes wearily. "How'd you know?" He grumbled, raising an eyebrow.

Gaara mirrored his eye actions. "Because you're you! _Obviously_ you're going to have the whole 'morals versus ideal outcome' battle…and since I don't have a conscience, I thought I could help."

"Thanks Gaara…I guess I _may_ need some advice. So anyway, what's been going on in Suna?"

"Like I said…it's been dull. As far as I know, the Kazekage's already been replaced, and preparations are being made for the Chuunin exams. Speaking of which, what are we changing there? I know you would like to save your Sandaime, but-"

"Konoha needs Tsunade. I know, I know." Naruto muttered dully. "I've considered that question and looked at it from all angles…and I've come up with a few changes that need to be made. Firstly, we can't let Orochimaru bite Sasuke."

Gaara nodded. "I agree. We also need to kill as many of the Konoha traitors and spies as we can. I think we should also send an anonymous tip off to the Hokage, and warn him about the Kazekage."

"Yes," Naruto agreed. "We should defiantly do that. We also need to eradicate _all_ of Orochimaru's followers within the genin during the second Chuunin exam. The less we have to fight in the preliminaries and the final exams, the better."

Gaara smirked. "Oh yes, we should defiantly narrow down the field this time around. Now, what are we going to do about your two friends at the Wave? What will their deaths, or lack thereof, effect in the timeline?"

Naruto shook his head. "I have no idea. But I think it's best if we keep things as close to the original timeline as possible, so that we can better predict what's going to happen."

"Wasn't the _point_ to change things Naruto? If we stick to the same timeline, then things will ultimately end up the same way." Gaara muttered.

Naruto turned back to Gaara, fury in his eyes. "What do you suggest we do then!? If we change too much, then se have no way of knowing what's going to happen next, and could make a huge mistake that leads to an even worse future! Sasuke, Shika, Shino, Neji- I want to save them Gaara, but not if it's going to bring upon them an even worse fate!"

Gaara sighed. "You need to forget about the people we left behind Naruto. Those people are no more; they are probably dead by now anyway. While the people you knew are gone, we have another chance to save them! Right now, they're still here, and will still be here a lot longer if you change things." Gaara stopped, and took a breath. "Besides, if we screw it up, we can just do it all over again."

Naruto sighed, feeling his anger fade away as he caught the concern in Gaara's eyes. "You're right." He laughed weakly. "Why is it that you always manage to get me furious and then calm within just a few seconds?"

Gaara smiled softly. "God knows why, but I care about you Naruto. I'm not going to let you go off and make the wrong decisions."

"Thanks, Gaara."

"Any time."

…AR…

Team seven, along with Gaara the raccoon, left camp early in the morning, hoping to make it to Wave by sun down. There was a strange subdued mood between the five travellers, even the normally complaining Tazuna was silent. The weather was ominous; heavy clouds lay idle in the sky, hiding the sun's life giving rays behind them. Naruto sighed as they walked along the faded dirt path, nearly drowning in the uncomfortable silence.

He knew why everyone was so quite; for he felt it too…a sense of foreboding on the horizon. Unlike the others, however, he knew exactly what was soon to happen. He kept his kunai ready at hand, feeling satisfied when his team mates noticed his paranoia and copied his actions. His hand gripped his kunai tightly when he finally stumbled upon the all too familiar puddle, (**Which I can't for the life of me remember why it was significant)** knowing that the entrance of the two enemies would be soon. (**Alright, I'm making up what happens from here on, so just pretend this is what happened in Naruto's first timeline**)

Kakashi blinked as he located two new chakra signatures, and quickly performed a substitution jutsu…just in time, it would seem, for iron ropes wrapped themselves around 'him' and promptly squeezed 'him' to death. Literally. From his position in a near by tree, Kakashi decided to wait and see what his students would do in the case of his 'death'.

Unsurprisingly, Naruto had jumped right into it…actually, he had caught on almost _too_ fast if Kakashi thought about it. Almost as if he had been expecting it. Kakashi dismissed this thought with a shake of his head and watched as Naruto took control over his team mates.

"Sakura! Protect the old man with your life. Me'n Sasuke will take care of these guys." Sakura nodded and stepped in front of Tazuna, kunai raised in front of her defensively.

Naruto and Sasuke each jumped at the enemy ninjas, Naruto taking the one on the left, and Sasuke the one on the right. Naruto threw his kunai at his target, but the masked man dodged just in time. Without his kunai, Naruto sunk into what Kakashi now knew to be Naruto's unique style tai jutsu stance. Naruto jumped forward, landing lightly on his right foot while swinging his left around in a large arc, using the momentum of the swing to slam his foot into the enemy's stomach. Naruto stepped forward as the man fell backwards a little, not giving him enough time to recover. Naruto's hand swung out, glowing with the chakra Naruto had gathered. He guided his hand with absolute accuracy, finally slamming it into the man's chest and effectively hitting the chakra point over his heart with the Hyuuga's soft fist style.

The man fell to the floor with the blow and there was a glint of metal as Naruto drew out a second kunai, slashing it across the man's throat. Naruto stepped backwards from the corpse, looking over to where Sasuke was fighting the second man.

Kakashi's attention switched to the Uchiha just in time, to see here him roar, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A huge fireball erupted from the boy's mouth, roasting the poor man alive.

"Teach you to mess with an Uchiha!" Sasuke muttered, bending over to check if the man was dead. He was. Kakashi jumped down from his tree, scaring Sakura shitless, who had though he was dead.

"Yo!" He called, gaining the attention of his other two students. "Good work guys, but did you really have to kill them? Now we've got no one to interrogate!"

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged an exasperated look. "And here I was thinking you'd died!" Naruto exclaimed. "But _nooo_! You have to come jumping out of the tree, fine as anything."

"Pity." Sasuke muttered.

"Isn't it?" Naruto agreed, before the two genin resumed their former path. Sakura blinked at them for a few moments, before turning and following them. "Well? You coming?" She called, staring pointedly at the old bridge builder. Tazuna shook his head as if trying to clear it before following the genin.

"What did I do to deserve this?' Kakashi muttered, before going after his team that seemed to have some kind of a superiority complex.

**A/N: Crap I'm so sorry it's so short! Normally I aim for five and a half pages, but this one's only three and a bit. –sigh- I was gonna leave it a bit in hopes that it will grow when I work on it again…but I didn't update yesterday so…Hang on, I'll go back now and try and write some more, kay? –Twenty minutes later- There you go, now it's four and a bit. Still not as long as I would have liked…but oh well, can't have everything.**

**I also have a question I need to ask you guys, and that is what pairings there should be in this fic. This is not a poll (since I'm pretty sure their not allowed) I just want you to give me your honest opinion. The options I'm considering are… **

**(For Naruto) Naruto/Gaara, Naruto/Sasuke, Naruto/Shika, Naruto/Hinata, Naruto/Sakura, Naruto/OC **

**(For Sasuke) Sasuke/Naruto, Sasuke/Sakura, Sasuke/Temari, Sasuke/Neji**

**(For Sakura) Sakura/Naruto, Sakura/Sasuke, Sakura/Shino**

**(For Gaara) Gaara/Naruto, Gaara/Shika, Gaara/OC**

**If you have any others you would like to see in this fic, then just mention it and I'll take it into consideration. I'll be choosing both by popular vote and by my own liking, so yeah…it'd be really appreciated if you'd drop me a line here telling me which pairing you'd prefer. Keep in mind though, that it will be very hard for me to incorporate OC's, simply because it's a time travel fic and technically everything's already happened so unless I changed the original timeline to suit my needs…well hopefully you get the picture.**

**Sorry about the lengthy Author's Note and the short chapter…please don't kill me!**


	6. A White Rabbit

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Kakashi/Iruka (mentioned only) Naruto/Gaara (at this point) Sakura/Shino, Sasuke/Shikamaru or Neji or Temari or Naruto. (Basically, undecided.)**

**A/N: This story will not be all that long, only about 60,000 words or so, 80,000 at the most. There will be approximately twenty-five chapters, and there is a sequel planned, and possibly a second sequel also. Just thought I'd let you all know that…**

**Chapter six: A White Rabbit**

"Tazuna-san, we need to talk." Kakashi's voice was cold and his eyes narrowed as he glared at the bridge builder.

Tazuna frowned and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Uh…why is that Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Don't take me for a fool Tazuna. Explain yourself, or me and my team are heading back to Konoha."

"Please," Tazuna said, a desperate tone to his voice. "Please just hear me out."

Kakashi sighed exasperatedly. "Why should I? You have lied to us, you have put my team in danger. I have no reason to continue this mission."

"Please Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto interrupted. "Let him explain."

Kakashi peered at Naruto for a moment before nodding reluctantly. Tazuna smiled in relief, his eyes wide with gratitude. "Thankyou Kakashi-san." He sighed wearily and went on to explain the situation with the City of the Waves. "…and that's why I had to class it as a C-rank- The village couldn't afford an A- or even a B-rank."

"Well then…" Kakashi muttered, glancing at his silent genin team. "What do you say guys? Do we stay or do we go?"

"Stay." Naruto said firmly, glaring at Kakashi as if daring him to argue. Sasuke nodded in agreement, as did Sakura.

Kakashi sighed, looking bored. "I suppose we're staying then." He suddenly turned and glared at Tazuna. "But if you neglect to tell us anything else in the future, then we will be high tailing our asses back to Konoha before you can say 'Gatou'. Got it?"

…AR…

"Has anyone seen Gaara?" Naruto asked, searching around worriedly for his little friend. Gaara had disappeared shortly before the skirmish with who had been identified as the 'Demon brothers' and had yet to reappear.

Sakura shook her head and Sasuke snorted slightly. Kakashi merely raised his eyebrows. Naruto turned to Tazuna, eyes raised hopefully. "Sorry kid," Tazuna shook his head. "I haven't seen it."

Naruto sighed. "Pity. I was hoping for someone worth talking to." He muttered, still searching the trees for any sign of the little red raccoon. He sighed once again and fell back to walk next to Sasuke.

"What is it dobe?" Sasuke asked, rolling his eyes.

Naruto shrugged and remained silent for a few seconds, before letting out yet another sigh. "I'm booooored." He whined…before sighing. Sasuke was beginning to wonder if Naruto was trying to break some kind of record with the amount of sighs he was releasing. Some would go as far as to suggest he had a breathing problem.

"Fine, Dobe. What do you want to do?" Sasuke asked, rolling his eyes once again.

"Let's play I spy!" Naruto exclaimed, practically skipping with excitement.

"No. Way."

"Please?" Naruto turned on the puppy dog eyes.

"Absolutely not!"

"Teme! Pleeeeaaaaasse!"

"I refuse to lower myself to the dignity level of a five year old."

"Aww...you're no fun Sasuke." Naruto turned to Sakura. "Will you play I spy with me?" He asked, queuing the tears to pool in the corners of his eyes.

"Alright…" Sakura sighed. "You start."

"I spy with my little eye…something green!"

"A tree." Sasuke muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, no fair! You cheated!" Naruto whined.

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Did not."

"Did to!"

"Idiot! How the hell can I cheat in _I spy_?"

"…"

"Sasuke's right Naruto."

"Yeah take his side." Naruto grumbled irritably. "Alright…I Spy with my little eye something that's….blue."

"The sky." Sasuke groaned. "Pick something original!"

"Fine!" Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke childishly. "I spy something…dark blue."

"My hair."

Naruto glared at Sasuke with narrowed eyes. "…Okay that's kinda scary. I spy with my little eye something pink!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "_Sakura_'s hair."

"I don't know how you do it…but I'll find out!...Hey Kakashi-sensei, do the Uchiha's have some kind of mind reading kekkai genkai as well as the Sharingan?"

A sigh. "No Naruto, they don't. You're just ridiculously predictable."

Silence. Then, "I don't wanna play this game anymore."

"My turn." Sasuke announced dully, with no emotion what so ever. "I spy something red and white."

Naruto thought for a moment before exclaiming, "GAARA!!!"

Gaara the raccoon took one look at the excitable blonde and the pink haired girl with hearts for eyes, and turned and fled into the forest again.

Naruto glared heatedly at his pink haired companion. "You scared him away!"

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did _too!_"

"DID NOT!"

"DID TOO!"

Further up ahead, Kakashi sighed exasperatedly and turned to Tazuna. "Is it just me, or are they all being ridiculously immature today?"

"Aw come on Kakashi-san, they're just kids. Let them act their age." Tazuna said, chuckling as Sakura and Naruto managed to draw Sasuke into their fight.

"Actually, technically they became adults the day they received their Hatai-ate's. Besides, I don't think my sanity could survive letting _Naruto_ be a kid." Kakashi muttered, glancing at the three genin…who were currently screaming at the top of their lungs at each other, except for Sasuke, who was glaring heatedly at the two.

"You're an idiot!"

"No _You're_ the idiot!"

"You're _both_ idiots, now shut the hell up before I roast you alive with my Katon!"

Kakashi basked in the silence that followed Sasuke's statement, before groaning as it was broken.

"Not if I sexy jutsu you first!"

"What are you gonna do, give me a nosebleed?"

"I'll, I'll….I'll use my secret harem jutsu!" silence. "Sexy harem no jutsu!" The clearing was suddenly filled with hundreds of naked female Naruto's.

"Ahhh! My eyes!" Sakura screamed, before running off into the forest.

Sasuke merely blinked. One of Naruto's 'Narukos' walked up to him and placed a finger on his chest. "Do you want a _real_ woman Sasuke?" She purred, stepping even closer...if that was possible.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at 'Naruko'. "Well it would be a pity if I did cause…you're a clone. Naruto, are you _hitting_ on me?"

There was absolute silence in the clearing, until all of the clones disappeared. "Ewww!" Naruto exclaimed. "Ew! Ew! _Ew!_ No! I'm with Gaara!"

Ten full seconds of silence. "THE _RACCOON?!_" Sasuke exclaimed, eyes wide in horror.

"Well, better the raccoon then YOU!" Naruto grimaced. "Oh that is just so…wrong! Jeez Sasuke, I don't think of you that way!"

Sasuke blinked. "Wow. I certainly didn't peg you as one for buggery Naruto!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean it _literally_! I meant that I'd rather Gaara to you!"

"Well you should have said that then!"

"Well you should have known what I meant!"

…And so the argument continued. Kakashi blinked, still a little in shock from what the blonde had said. Then, "Hey! Naruto, you're not a homophobe are you?"

Naruto paused in his yelling at Sasuke to peer at Kakashi. "Why…are you…?"

Kakashi let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like 'Iruka'.

"WHAT!" Naruto began to hyperventilate. "Whaaaaaat! You…you! But…He's too good for you! You…you…hentai! God…that's just wrong! Why didn't Iruka-sensei tell me!" Naruto literally looked as if every thing he had ever known had been ruthlessly snatched away from him.

Kakashi blinked. "I assumed you knew."

Naruto moaned. "No! Why would I ever think…that…you and…Iruka!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "…because…_everyone_ knows?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "What!"

Tazuna was quite lost in this conversation. "Uh…okay then." He muttered, shaking his head. Meanwhile, Naruto's world was falling apart.

…AR…

Naruto looked from Kakashi to Sasuke, eyes wide with shock. _But…how! This didn't happen before…did it? How did this happen! Why is this happening? Iruka! With that old perv? That's like…when Jiraiya was hitting on Anko! Just plain wrong! _

Naruto's inner monologue was disrupted when something white caught his eye. A rabbit. A _white_ rabbit.

Naruto locked gazes with the small twitching creature, blue meeting black.

He glared.

The rabbit stared back.

He frowned.

The rabbit twitched.

He pounced.

Naruto landed on the rabbit and grabbed it, holding it up. "Look! I caught a rabbit! A _white _rabbit." He stressed the word white, staring pointedly at Kakashi, who frowned, catching on to what Naruto was saying.

"A white rabbit?" Kakashi asked, stepping forward with a frown.

"Exactly." Naruto said with a nod. Tazuna, Sasuke and the newly arrived Sakura, passed a look between them. What the hell?

"Um…sorry but, why does it matter if the rabbit's white?"

"By this time in the season, all the rabbits should have turned brown." Kakashi explained. "Therefore, it is a rabbit that has been kept in captivity. It belongs to someone."

…AR…

"Momochi Zabuza."

Zabuza smirked. "Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan."

"Sharingan?!" Sasuke hissed, turning to Naruto. "B-but…how?"

Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes as Zabuza and Kakashi continued to taunt each other. "He's not an Uchiha, his Sharingan was put in surgically." He muttered, satisfying the Uchiha's curiosity.

Zabuza finally finished his little story about how he killed all his comrades and proceeded to shroud the area in a thick mist.

"Protect Tazuna." Kakashi ordered, eyes scanning the mist in an attempt to locate Zabuza. Finally, a deep voice broke through the mist to their left.

"There are eight targets. Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, the jugular vein, the sub-clavian artery, kidney, heart…So many choices. Which should I choose?"

Naruto rolled his eyes at his attempt to intimidate them, and quickly reassured his team mates. He felt a presence behind him, and turned to see Gaara place himself by Tazuna's feet.

He watched the fight intently, trying to pick up on anything he had missed the first time. Finally, once Zabuza had trapped Kakashi in the water prison and sent out his water clones, Naruto knew it was time to interfere. He walked over to Tazuna, and handed him the rabbit.

"Look after him." Naruto ordered, before heading over to where Zabuza held Kakashi captive, Sasuke hot on his heels.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto called, creating twenty-five shadow clones which promptly charged at Zabuza's water clones.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled, using his trademark jutsu. Naruto elbowed him solidly in the ribs.

"Idiot! They're _water_ clones!" He hissed, gesturing to where the fire had hit the clones, but had no effect.

"Oh." Sasuke said, shaking is head. "Right, sorry." His eyes widened as Clone Zabuza's sword came rushing at his head. "Kawarimi no jutsu!" He yelled, substituting himself with a log.

Naruto drew out his shuriken and threw it at the real Zabuza, hiding another in its shadow. Zabuza dodged the first and jumped the second, just as Naruto knew he would. Naruto used a substitution jutsu to replace himself with the shuriken, and landed behind Zabuza. He ducked the swing of Zabuza's arm and retaliated with a sharp kick to his ribs. He finally sunk down into his trade mark tai jutsu stance; his body in a half crouch with his right arm extended in front of him and his left trailing on the ground behind him. His mind ran through his list of tai jutsu styles, before finally settling on the quick, effective style that Rock Lee was so fond of using.  
Zabuza was momentarily stunned at the fast, high level tai jutsu that was thrown at him, and was having a very hard time blocking while keeping up the water prison. Finally, he was forced to release Kakashi as he swung his huge sword, catching Naruto in a large swipe from shoulder to hip. Naruto hissed in pain, jumping backwards and stumbling slightly as he landed. Naruto barely noticed that what he had landed on was water, until his chakra control failed as a result of the blood loss and he plunged beneath the surface.

…AR…

Kakashi sighed with relief as the hunter nin took Zabuza away, before turning to his team to check for injuries. "Is everyone okay?" He asked, running a visual check quickly. Suddenly, he froze. "Where's Naruto?"

Sasuke's eyes widened as he looked around, only just realising the blonde's absence.

Sakura shook her head, indicating that she didn't know. The raccoon, however, raced off in the direction of the lake. Kakashi's eyes widened as he ran quickly after the animal, which stopped at the edge of the water. Kakashi wasted no time in diving into the icy depths, using his Sharingan to further improve his eyesight. He quickly saw the boy in a shallow part of the lake, and grabbed hold of his shirt, before struggling to swim upwards towards the surface.

He pulled the boy over to the bank of the lake, immediately checking for his pulse. The rest of his team and Tazuna gathered around him, Sakura had tears running down her face.

Kakashi couldn't hold in his gasp as he realised how large Naruto's injury was. It was a deep wound starting at the back of his left shoulder and running around the side of his body, crossing over his stomach and finally stopping at the edge of the swirl mark that Kakashi presumed was Kyuubi's seal. Kakashi was surprised that Naruto was still alive having lost as much blood as he had, but found himself thinking it must have something to do with the Kyuubi's healing powers.

"He's alive, and should be alright." Kakashi said, wincing as his voice sounded weak even to his own ears. "Just…bandage it." His vision faded in and out of focus as he swayed on his feet, finally fading to black.

…AR…

"It's alright," Sasuke reassured Sakura and Tazuna as they began to panic. "It's just chakra exhaustion. He used his Sharingan for too long." Sasuke looked to Sakura. "Do you know how to bandage wounds?"

Sakura nodded, stepping forward and reaching into her pack. She pulled out a long length of bandage, and knelt beside Naruto. "Yes. All the kunoichi get taught basic medical training at the academy." She proceeded to carefully wrap the bandages around his body, which proved difficult because f the length of the wound. By the time she had finished, she had used up all of the bandage, and Naruto looked somewhat like a mummy. She stood up and took the rabbit from Tazuna, who bent down to pick up Naruto. Sasuke hoisted up the still form of Kakashi, grunting a little under his weight. The three of them set off, with Gaara the raccoon scouting ahead for them. A few hours later, they were hungry, thirsty and exhausted, but had reached Tazuna's home. Sakura, being the only one with free hands, knocked on the door. They waited a few moments, before a woman flung open the door, looking at Tazuna in worry.

"Tousan!" She exclaimed, before catching sight of the two unconscious figures. "What is this?" Tazuna went on to explain their situation, before the three of them…seven, if you included Kakashi, Naruto, the rabbit and Gaara, were ushered into the house. He woman introduced herself as Tsunami, and lead them up to a spare room. Tsunami helped Sasuke and her father settle the two unconscious ninja onto futons, before ushering them all back downstairs for a warm meal.

…AR…

Naruto groaned as he awoke, feeling twinges of pain from his left side. He opened his eyes to find the obsidian ones of Sasuke staring back at him.

"How do you feel, dobe?" Sasuke asked, peering at him curiously.

Naruto groaned again as his left side felt like it was on fire as he tried to move. "Like I was eaten by a giant rhino, spat out, and then trampled by said rhino before being sliced open by a cannibal using a knife and fork." He muttered.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked, smirking slightly.

"Absolutely fan-fucking-tastic." He said sarcastically. "Now, mind telling me what happened?"

"Well…I don't really know." Sasuke admitted. "One moment we were both fighting the water clones, then you went and substituted yourself for a shuriken to attack the real Zabuza…and then Kakashi fished you out of the lake one Zabuza was killed."

Naruto nodded and looked to his left, to see a sleeping, or unconscious, Kakashi beside him. "What happened to him?"

"Chakra exhaustion." Sasuke answered. "But how come you're up so early? Tsunami-san said you'd be out for at least a few days. It's only been about eighteen hours."

Naruto sighed. "You know how I told you about the advantages of having the Kyuubi sealed inside of me? Fast healing is one of them." He explained. "By tomorrow, this wound won't even be a scar."

"Let's hope so." Sasuke muttered. "Kami knows I'm sick of just _Sakura_'s company, and your raccoon is driving me mad! Then there's that old bridge builder who can't stop saying 'super', and there's this depressed kid who keeps calling us idiots for trying to help him!" Sasuke shook his head. "At least _you_ provide a good sparring partner."

Naruto shook his head, chuckling weakly. "You know Sasuke, you have really changed since I first met you."

Sasuke mock glared at his friend. "It's all your fault dobe."

"Teme!"

"Baka!"

**A/N: How'd you like that one? Good? Bad? I tried to make it longer for you to make up for the shortness of last chapter…did I succeed? Oh and pairings have been decided and are stated up the top. Some are still questionable though, so feel free to suggest any pairings you still want to see.**


	7. Looks can be Decieving

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Naruto/Gaara, Sakura/Shino, Sasuke/Temari, Kakashi/Iruka (mentioned only). Pairings are set now.**

**A/N: Yeah…well sorry if this chapter seems a little rushed, but Naruto and Gaara's time in this particular timeline is coming to an end so I need to get them out of Wave quickly. Sorry.**

**Chapter seven: Looks can be Deceiving**

"Alright guys, today we're learning…something else." Kakashi thought for a moment, before nodding to himself. "I know, since you already know all those chakra control exercises and all that, today I'm going to teach each of you a different jutsu to suit your affinities." Naruto raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll pass." Naruto muttered, before turning away, his mind already back on the more pressing issue of disposing of Gatou. He and Gaara had finally come to a conclusion; they had decided that they were going to find a way to kill Gatou, therefore saving Zabuza and Haku and eliminating the chance of a second combat between the mist nins and team seven. How? Well that's what he was trying to figure out.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed at his student's retreating back. "Naruto!" he called, causing the blonde genin to turn back towards him. "That wasn't an offer."

"No offence sensei, but anything you teach us now isn't going to save our asses by the time we face Zabuza again, so why waste our time?" Naruto muttered offhandedly, striding away from his three shocked team mates.

"Wait here." He told the rest of his team, before following his errant student. He found Naruto not far away, cross legged on the floor and seemingly meditating. "Naruto," the blonde's eyes snapped open. "What is all this about?"

Naruto sighed, standing up slowly. "Can you honestly tell me anything you think you can teach us that we can master within just a few days? Our time would be put to better use doing our own thing. Besides, I have more pressing issues to deal with." Naruto snapped, massaging his temples in a vein attempt to ward off the headache he could feel growing.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Care to share these 'pressing issues'?" Kakashi asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Not really. It's not like you'd be of any help anyway. I need to talk to Gaara…" He muttered, his voice trailing off as his occupied mind strayed back to the issue that had been looming ominously over his head for last thirty-two hours. "Fuck, I'm screwed." He muttered under his breath. "What am I supposed to _do!_ How am I supposed to get this right!" He mentally chided himself and attempted to calm himself down as he felt himself begin to panic. His mind was frantic and his emotions erratic, both from the stress of finding an impossible solution and the exhaustion of not having slept since he woke up from his injury three days ago. Another thing that was influencing his state of mind and emotion control was a certain seal that he had received shortly before he became Rokudaime, which had surprisingly stayed with him through the time travel and was now acting up at the worst of times.

The seal was a unique seal that had been put on him by Tsunade before she had sacrificed herself to save Jiraiya. At that point in time he was finding himself needing to use the Kyuubi' demonic chakra more and more often as he faced off against Orochimaru, and it had begun having negative effects on his emotions, making him almost as if he was bi-polar at times. He would shift from being incredibly depressed to absolutely jubilant in a matter of seconds, and he was incredibly prone to panic attacks. Tsunade had analysed the problem and come up with a solution in the form of a seal, which stabilised his emotions and kept his panic attacks under control. She called it the Jou Ren'ai seal, and while effective once it was working, if it acted up, Naruto was in trouble. Currently, the Jou Ren'ai seal was acting up, and considering the amount of stress the young Rokudaime found himself under, a panic attack was inevitable. Why he had to have it when Kakashi was present, he would never know.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked, taking a step closer as the teen began to shake slightly. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Naruto shook his head wildly, desperately trying to regain some control. His mind felt like it was vibrating; his thoughts were fuzzy and clouded by some strange fear that was taking hold of him.

…AR…

Kakashi stared with wide eyes as his student began to hyperventilate, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps. Kakashi placed a comforting arm on his wildly trembling arm, attempting to calm the panicking twelve tear old. "Naruto!" He exclaimed, trying to snap the boy out of whatever this was. "Naruto, what's wrong!" Kakashi silently cursed himself as he realised he had no idea how to react in this situation and desperately wished for someone to come along who knew how to handle it.

"Sakura! Sasuke!" He yelled, his voice sounding panicked to his own ears. Kakashi looked on worriedly as Naruto began to sweat excessively, his blue eyes darting around wildly. Kakashi stepped closer, trying to hear what the boy was muttering to himself, shaking his head at constant intervals.

"Can't do it…not possible…shouldn't have tried…shouldn't have left them!" Naruto's voice began to rise in volume as his shaking increased, until he was only held up by Kakashi's firm grip on his shoulders. "Naruto! Naruto! What's wrong Naruto, tell me! Oh fuck, stop that…what's wrong!" Finally, Sakura and Sasuke came running into the clearing.

"What is it sensei?" Sakura asked, before stopping and gasping as she caught sight of Naruto, who was beginning to retch as if about to throw up.

"I can't breathe…" Naruto whispered hoarsely, as he gasped for breath. "Help me! I can't breathe! Am I dying? Why can't I breathe! I can't breathe!" His actions began to get more frantic as he struggled in Kakashi's grip.

Kakashi turned to Sakura, his eyes pleading with her to find a solution. Sakura was shocked to find that Kakashi was almost as panicked as Naruto! Sasuke stepped forward and pulled Kakashi away from Naruto, after Kakashi had begun to hyperventilate himself. "What's wrong with him!" Kakashi exclaimed, his voice shaking. "What's wrong? _Is_ he dying? _Why_'s he dying!"

Sakura supported Naruto while diagnosing what was wrong with him, and explaining it to the others in an attempt to calm Kakashi, who seemed to think Naruto was dying.

"It's okay Kakashi, it's just a panic attack." She said, her voice soothing as she tried to calm Naruto. "A panic attack is just the body's natural reaction to an extreme sense of fear or psychological distress." She said, frowning as she tried to recall the words of her academy sensei. "Sufferers of a panic attack normally think they are dying or going insane. Other people panicking," She shot a glance at the completely and utterly discomposed Jounin, "does not help in the slightest and merely adds to the sufferers panic. Severe panic attacks, like this one, are hard to stop once they've started, and the only thing we can really do is stay calm and wait until he calms down or exhausts himself."

Kakashi nodded slowly, and attempted to slow his breathing down to a normal rate. Naruto's panic continued for a few more minutes, before he finally collapsed into Sakura's arms with one last shuddering breath. Sakura sighed with relief as his shaking stopped and his heart beat settled into the slow, rhythmical thump that told her he was asleep.

Sasuke shook his head slightly, giving Kakashi an odd look. "Jeez Kakashi! You call yourself a Jounin? Talk about losing your head in the face of danger!"

Kakashi glared at the Uchiha, immediately jumping to his own defence. "Hey, I've never seen a panic attack before, okay? I honestly thought Naruto was dying. How would you have felt if _you_ were the one over here while Naruto was seemingly dying and you could do nothing to help-" Kakashi cut off his own rant with a shake of his head, before sighing wearily. "Sorry Sasuke, I'm just a little wound up. How is he, Sakura?"

"He should be fine," she answered, handing Naruto's surprisingly light body to Kakashi. "Do you know what set him off?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No idea…one minute he was snapping at me, then he was talking about 'pressing issues' and then this!"

Sakura shook her head wearily. "Let's get him back to the house. The first thing he needs is rest…he looks as if he hasn't slept in days!"

…AR…

Gaara shook his head slightly in amusement as the rest of Naruto's team brought him into the room where Gaara had been sleeping. The lay him down on one of the futons, before walking out and leaving him alone with the Kyuubi vessel. Gaara crawled closer to Naruto, still in his raccoon guise. He frowned (mentally) as he felt a subtle difference in Naruto's chakra flow. He glanced towards the door and made sure there was no one nearby or approaching, before dispelling the henge he had been under and resuming his normal human form.

He crouched beside Naruto and opened his shirt, examining the Jou Ren'ai seal closely. The seal itself was nothing fancy, merely a tattoo like marking that displayed simply the letter 'J' curled around the letter 'R' with a small black simple style heart next to a curly 'T'. The 'JR' was meant to symbolise the name of the seal, and the heart T was Tsunade's little touch, meaning 'With love, Tsunade." Or whatever those sentimental fools went on about. The strange thing about the seal, was that instead of the normal black it usually was, it was a very dark blue. The colour was almost undistinguishable from the original colour, unless you knew exactly what to look for, which Gaara did.

Gaara cursed softly as he realised what this meant; the seal was not working. Tsunade had explained that if it acted up, the seal would change colour very faintly. And it had. Gaara could only imagine what must have happened, and sincerely hoped that the blonde hadn't blown their cover. He also sincerely hoped that the seal would start working soon…for he'd almost rather kill himself then deal with a bi-polar, panic attack prone, moody Naruto on a day to day basis. Kami, he'd rather spend an eternity with Naruto's psycho friend Rock Lee then a few weeks with a Jou Ren'ai-less Naruto. He was bitterly reminded of the time when Kyuubi's chakra had first began to effect Naruto before he had gotten the seal…

_-Flash back-_

_Gaara was utterly sick of this mission. As Konoha's 'Top Team', Tsunade had ordered him, Naruto, Shikamaru and Sasuke to retrieve an important scroll that the sound ninja's had gotten a hold of. They had therefore spent the last three weeks in Sound, attempting to do so without drawing attention to themselves. They had finally put their plan into motion, and were hiding in Sound's main base…when Naruto had seemingly cracked under the pressure and gone insane, giving away the group's position. The sound ninja's had captured them, and Naruto had proceeded to cry about it. Yes, cry. _

"_Why are you doing this!" Naruto sobbed, tears flowing freely from his shining blue eyes. "What did we ever do to you, huh?" He sniffed pathetically, sitting on the floor and beginning to rock himself on his heels. "Why!" The sound ninja stared wide eyed at the golden haired ninja who was known as "Konoha's Hell Fox", the ninja who had done so much damage to Sound….the ninja who was currently balling his eyes out like a newborn baby. _

_Sasuke stepped forward, attempting to salvage what little pride Naruto had left. "He's under a lot of stress, you see… he had a tough mission last week, you may have heard of it?"_

_The leader sound ninja nodded. "The one where he went up against forty sound ninja's by himself?" Sasuke nodded._

"_That, and he was rejected by the one he loves again…" Sasuke continued, looking at Naruto with pity in his eyes. _

_The sound ninja nodded sympathetically. "Do I know how that is! Poor guy, he's got such a reputation to live up to too, he's only…what, twenty-one?"_

"_Seventeen." Shikamaru corrected lazily._

_The sound ninja shook his head. "Poor kid, most seventeen year olds are barely even chuunin! Heard he's next in line for Hokage?" Gaara looked from Sasuke, to the sound leader, to the three other sound nins who were staring at their leader in shock. Gaara figured he probably wore a similar expression on his own face. His eyes then turned to Naruto who was now softly singing himself a lullaby while he rocked himself gently. _

_Sasuke nodded, answering the leader's question. "Yeah he's got a lot on his plate." _

_The sound leader motioned for his team to back off a little. "Give the poor guy some room, can't you see he's under a lot of stress?" _

_And thus Konoha earned itself a team of four Sound ninja who pledged their allegiances to assisting "Konoha's poor little Hell Kitsune' in any and all ways possible. It was the start of a surprising number of sound ninja turning traitor and helping Konoha._

_-End flash back-_

Gaara shook his head, clearing his mind of any more disturbing memories. He stood up wearily and grabbed a pen and paper, scribbling down a quick note in the code that he, Naruto, Shikamaru and Sasuke of the future had developed, so that only Naruto could read it. He sighed it by henging back into a raccoon and dipping his paw in ink before leaving a paw print on the bottom of the page. He then transformed back to human shape, henged himself so he was a little shorter with dull brown hair and green eyes, before disappearing out the window to do his job.

The note lay clasped in Naruto's fist, until he would read it the next morning…

_Naruto,_

_I'm going off to finish Gatou. I believe you had a panic attack as a result of a faulty Jou Ren'ai seal, so I'm taking things into my own hands. I'll contact Zabuza and Haku and tell them that their money source is dead…maybe offer them a small amount if they agree to leave and allow Tazuna to finish his little bridge. _

_I'll be back by tomorrow evening at the latest, try to get some sleep, you're starting to look like me._

...AR…

"Gatou." The short man's eyes widened as he spun around, meeting Gaara's cold eyes. Gaara had removed the henge, so his altogether frightening appearance worked its charm. Gatou searched wildly for his guards, only to find them lying in piles of sand.

"W-who are you?" He squeaked, desperately looking for a way out.

Gaara's voice was cold and merciless, his eyes betrayed no emotion in their fathomless depths. "Your executioner." Three and a half seconds later, the only thing remaining of the tyrant named Gatou, was a large, bloody pile of sand.

…AR…

"Zabuza Momochi?" The tall man spun around, meeting Gaara's gaze fearlessly.

"Who are you?" He demanded, wordlessly commanding Haku to his side.

"My name is unimportant. I come on behalf of one Naruto Uzumaki, who wishes to meet with the two of you to discuss your…next assassination attempt on Tazuna the bridge builder, or lack thereof."

"Oh?" Zabuza asked, raising an eyebrow…or he would have, if he had any… "And what makes you think there would be a 'lack thereof'?"

"It might be the fact that Uzumaki believes you are a good person on the inside…" Gaara coughed loudly. "Or it might be that your payment plan has, for lack of a better word, been eradicated. Suffocated instantly by highly versatile grains of sand, if you're looking for details."

Zabuza's fury was almost tangible. "And this would be Uzumaki's doing then?" He hissed, hand reached for his sword.

"Oh no," Gaara laughed. "That would have been me. If it were up to me, I would do to you what I did to that chicken shit short guy. But alas, Uzumaki wishes to persuade you to leave peacefully...and possibly help pay your way out of Wave."

"Pay you say? Well keep talking, I'm listening."

"I thought that might be the case."

…AR…

"You'd be Naruto Uzumaki?" Naruto turned to see a widely smirking and satisfied looking Zabuza, Haku just steps behind. Zabuza frowned a she caught sight of his face. "You're just a kid! One of Kakashi's brats no less."

Naruto merely smirked. "Looks can be deceiving, Zabuza Momochi."

Zabuza grunted, acknowledging his statement. "Well, let's get this over with then. How much are we talking?"

"How does 10,000 ryou sound?"

"I think I could get to like you, kid."

Naruto merely smirked.

…AR…

Naruto sighed wearily as he caught yet _another_ concerned look from his team mates. Sure, at first it was alright, felt nice to know that they cared about his health…but _really_, they'd been on the road for two days now and Kakashi was _still_ acting like he could keel over any second. Finally, Naruto had simply had enough.

"Can I talk to you sensei?" Naruto didn't wait for a response, he simply grabbed Kakashi by the arm and led him away out of earshot from Sakura and Sasuke. "You can stop looking at me like that, I'm not going to have another panic attack, nor am I going to break down in depression." Kakashi shot him a strange look. "_Or_ hysterical laughter. Look, I know what the problem was, and I've fixed it. I am officially emotionally and mentally stable."

"I'm sorry Naruto, but with the way you've been acting these past few days, that's hard to believe. _First_ you scared me to _death_ with your little panic thing, then, barely minutes after you woke up you freaked us all out with your half an hour long hysterical laughing fit, and then within a second of stopping laughing, you're crying and saying you want to kill yourself!" Kakashi exclaimed, looking very confused.

Naruto finally sighed and decided to show him the seal…I mean, what harm could it do? He'd just say he invented it himself, with a little help from Kyuubi.

He unzipped his jacket, showing Kakashi the strange tattoo in the middle of his chest. "See this? This is what I like to call a Jou Ren'ai seal. Basically, it balances out my emotions and keeps my stress level under control. Me and Kyuubi developed it when I started having adverse effects to Kyuubi's chakra, and began having some pretty fucked up mood swings. Another thing I became prone to was panic attacks, which I believe you witnessed a few days ago in Wave. The problem then, was that the seal stopped working because I was so exhausted and didn't have enough chakra reserves to fuel the seal, resulting in my strange moods. But now it's fixed, so you can stop worrying, okay?"

Kakashi blinked and stared at the seal for a moment. "Whoa. That's pretty impressive Naruto, how did you learn how to create seals?"

Naruto waved off the question as they headed back towards their team mates. "Kyuubi showed me. Turns out he's sort of an expert on that sort of thing."

…AR…

A few hours later, the small group finally found themselves at Konoha's west gates. No one really noticed the absence of Gaara, who had been forced to return to Suna after removing Gatou. Nor did they take much notice of Naruto's new favourite companion; a small white rabbit. Once they arrived, Kakashi disappeared to Hokage's tower to give in the mission report, and Sakura said she had to go home to see her parents. Sasuke and Naruto wondered around for a bit, before deciding to go and get something to eat at Ichiraku's ramen.

Once they had sat down and ordered their food, Sasuke finally noticed Naruto's little friend. "You kept it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as the rabbit burrowed into Naruto's jacket.

"Yup! Isn't he adorable? His name is Takeshi." Naruto announced proudly, stroking the rabbit lovingly.

Sasuke snorted, causing Naruto to glare at him. "Sorry, but Takeshi? You named a _rabbit_ Takeshi? Somehow, he doesn't look like a fierce warrior to me."

"Looks can be deceiving. Can't they Taki?"

"Looks can be deceiving indeed." Sasuke snorted, shaking his head slightly at his friend's foolishness. Naruto was an idiot…but Sasuke wouldn't have it any other way.

**A/N: Yeah? No? Maybe? Again, sorry for rushing it…but** **Naruto and Gaara's time in this particular timeline is coming to an end so I needed to get them out of Wave quickly. Sorry.**** Also, in case you didn't read up top, pairings have been officially decided, and they are stated at the beginning of the chapter. I also didn't have time to spell check this, and I don't have a beta…so sorry about all the mistakes that are doubtlessly in there.**


	8. Confrontations

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Naruto/Gaara, Sakura/Shino, Sasuke/Temari, Shikamaru/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka (mentioned only). Pairings are set now.**

**A/N: Don't really have anything to say this time…just read the one at the bottom.**

**Chapter eight: Confrontations**

_-Interval: Back in the Future-_

Sasuke groaned as he felt someone poking him, prodding him awake. Finally, he opened his eyes to meet the grey-green eyes of Shikamaru. He sat up quickly, his foggy thoughts catching up with him as he realised where he was.

"Shika? What is it?" Shikamaru sighed, casting his eyes to the floor. Sasuke could see tears pooling in the corners of his eyes.

Shikamaru shook his head, closing his eyes and forcing the tears back that were threatening to spill. "We…we lost Neji." He whispered, opening his eyes and meeting the obsidian gaze of his best friend.

Sasuke sighed and shook his head, standing up slowly. "We knew it would happen…" He muttered, glaring at the floor. "He was foolish to even attempt such a suicidal mission."

Shikamaru shook his head quickly, surprising Sasuke. "No, you're wrong. He succeeded. He stumbled back to base with the scroll on the verge of death. He passed shortly after wasting his last breaths telling us that the enemy hadn't found a way to open the scroll…the scroll's secret remained a secret." He sighed wearily. "Even in death, Neji Hyuuga was triumphant."

"I wouldn't expect any less of him." Sasuke said softly, wiping away the lone tear that had escaped his iron hold. "How did Lee take it?"

Shikamaru turned away. "He was devastated. He blames himself for his brother's death. He says he should have stopped him…but there truly wasn't anything he could do, save going in Neji's place…and there's no way I could _ever_ allow him to do that. We needed that scroll Sasuke…if the enemy had gotten it, Naruto and Gaara's mission would have been doomed."

"I know, aniki…" Sasuke sighed. "I know. But now…there's so few of us left. What happens when we fall too? Then they'll get their hands on the scroll one way or another…"

"Otosan, we will protect the scroll that Neji gave his life to recover until the day we die. It may be Naruto and Gaara's only chance…" Shikamaru stepped forward and in a rare show of emotion, pulled his 'younger brother' into a deep embrace. Sasuke relaxed into Shikamaru and finally released the tears he had been holding back for so long.

…AR…

Lee stared coldly into the distance, watching the clouds slowly make their journey across the darkened sky. Tears fell silently from his bloodshot eyes, no will power was strong enough to stop them. He turned at the sound of almost silent footsteps, to see Temari making her way over to him. He said nothing as she sat down beside him, and the two sat in silence for a few minutes, reminiscing.

Finally Temari sighed, breaking the quiet of the night, and turned to Lee. "We lost a good man today Lee, someone who should never had had to die so early. However fierce our grief for him is though, we must remember what he fought for and not diminish his sacrifice. He went so that we wouldn't have to, so that we could live. Don't belittle that by blaming yourself, he chose his own path and went down fighting. Even more, he managed to bring back what was stolen from us in order to give Naruto and Gaara a chance to make things right. So wipe away your tears and stop dwelling on what could have been. Neji didn't give up his life so that you could waste yours crying about it, he expected you to keep on fighting until it's no longer physically possible…just like you did when you faced off against Gaara in the preliminaries. So let us go now and celebrate his life and his sacrifice, rather then mourning his death…as Neji would have wanted it."

Lee sighed, wiping the tears from his eyes with a soft smile. "You're right Temari."

"Of course she's right!" Sasuke exclaimed as he sat down beside Temari. "She's Temari after all." Temari elbowed him in the ribs before smiling at him. Sasuke smirked and leant down, pressing his lips against those of his lover.

Lee laughed and looked away, meeting Shikamaru's eyes as he took a seat beside Lee. "Are you alright?" Shikamaru asked, a concerned look in his eyes.

"I am now." Lee said, shuffling closer to Shikamaru. "While I'll always miss Neji, I understand why he did what he did. I only hope Naruto and Gaara make his sacrifice worthwhile."

Sasuke pulled away from Temari, a soft smile on his face. He pulled out a bottle of sake and began to pour it around. He then raised it in the air, causing the others to do the same. "To Neji, to Naruto and Gaara, and to us, the Last One's Left. May Neji be at peace in the afterlife, may Naruto and Gaara succeed in their mission, and may we hold back those sound bastards as long as physically possible!"

"To us, the Last One's Left!" They all cried as they brought their glasses together in a toast. Following their toast was a night of happiness and laughter that they would not soon forget. It was a time when they could finally forget about the war for just one night and celebrate their existence. It was the last night they would ever spend together…for tomorrow, two of them would meet Neji and the rest of their sorely missed friends in the afterlife, and the other two would embark upon the journey of their lives.

…AR…

_-Back with Naruto in the past-_

"Alright guys," Kakashi said as the team gathered on the bridge the day after returning from Wave Country. "As you may or may not know, the chuunin exams will be taking place here in Konoha in just a few days time. I have nominated you all for them, so you need to decide now whether or not you're going to participate."

Naruto turned to Sasuke and raised an eyebrow, who nodded in response. "What do you say, Taki? Wanna go become chuunin?" Naruto peered at the rabbit, which didn't answer his question. Finally, he sighed and agreed with Sasuke. Sasuke and Naruto then turned to Sakura.

"If you guys are, then I am too." She announced, a determined glint in her green eyes.

Kakashi nodded, smiling slightly under his mask. "I thought so. Before we enter the exams, however, we have to get training. I am going to teach you each a different technique that will be useful in the exams. Well actually, I'm only going to teach one of you…you see, two of the Hokage's students have returned to Konoha under special circumstances and have agreed to teach the other two of you what I cannot. One of them, Tsunade-sama is an experienced medical-nin and she will be teaching Sakura an advanced medical jutsu. Another, Jiraiya-sama, will be teaching Naruto an advanced jutsu, the Rasengan. I will be teaching Sasuke my one and only original jutsu, the Chidori. The only reason I am not teaching all of you, is that I am hopeless at medical jutsus and I don't actually know how to do the Rasengan…but hopefully two of the three legendary sannin will suffice, no? Does that sound good to all of you?"

Naruto smirked and nodded, thinking with a silent chuckle that the only reason Jiraiya and Tsunade were even _here_ was because he had tipped of the Hokage. He smirked as he remembered the letter he had sent…

_Hokage-sama,_

_The snake is going to attack Konoha during the chuunin exams. Do not cancel the exams, simply send for Jiraiya and Tsunade, I am positive they will suffice. The village of the Sand is planning on breaking the alliance they have with you, but don't worry, for their lead pawn in the game is planning on turning traitor to his own village, and the Sand in nothing without Subaku no Gaara. _

_From- A citizen of Konoha who can see the future (hee hee)_

He had gotten a laugh out of that. He had also been slightly surprised when the Hokage had actually _believed_ the anonymous tip off and sent for Tsunade and Jiraiya…probably figured it couldn't hurt to have them there just in case. How Kakashi had managed to get them to agree to training them, however, Naruto didn't know.

Sounds great sensei!" Sakura exclaimed, thinking of how amazing it would be to learn from a sannin. They didn't have to wait long to find out, for a few minutes later, a tall blonde woman and an old man with red face paint and long grey hair arrived.

"Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi greeted, inclining his head to them and motioning for the genin to do the same.

Jiraiya merely grunted. "Eh…let's get this started then."

…AR…

"Alright kid, so do you understand what to do now?" Naruto nodded, not really listening to the older man. He already knew how to do this, and besides, he was still playing back the scene where Tsunade had gotten mad and thrown Sakura through a wall, and was laughing about it in his head.

"Then show me what you can do, kid." Naruto subconsciously gathered the chakra in his hand flawlessly and produced a perfect one handed Rasengan…before cursing inwardly as he remembered where he was. He looked sheepishly at Jiraiya, who looked shocked, before laughing and scratching the back of his head.

"Heh heh…don't know how that happened, is that what it's supposed to look like?" Jiraiya merely stare din shock. "Beginner's luck?" _Fuck, I'm screwed._

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed at the young teen before him. "Care to tell me who taught you the Rasengan, kid?"

"No one Jiraiya-sama, like I said, it was just beginner's luck and nothing more." Naruto said, pushing as much sincerity and innocence as he could into his voice and eyes. _I'm such an idiot...I mean, honestly, losing concentration and showing ero-sennin a one handed Rasengan? How idiotic can you get. I predict much future harassment from this one incident._ He thought with a sigh.

"Beginner's luck? No, kid, Beginner's luck is managing to get a small spark of visible chakra in _two_ hands. What _you_ did, was a flawless one handed Rasengan, _without_ the hand seals!" Jiraiya exclaimed, glaring at Naruto.

"Look Jiraiya-sama, I don't know why you think it's so special, but _no one_ taught me the Rasengan. In fact, I've never even heard of it before today!" He lied, crossing his fingers behind his back. "I just did what you told me to do with focussing the chakra in my hand and all that."

Jiraiya snorted. "Yeah, and I'm a toad!"

"Well you _are_ a toad summoner, right?"

"Shut up gaki."

…AR…

Later that day, Naruto was sitting in his normal position on the Fourth's head, thinking about his current dilemma. _Fuck, I'm so screwed it's not even funny. Jiraiya's going to tell Kakashi, and that's jus going to give Kakashi _another_ reason to be suspicious of me. At this rate, I'm just going to have to tell them all the truth! It's just all so freaking _complicated!_ Oh look, I can hear Kakashi's footsteps now. Better brace myself…_

"Naruto, would you care to explain what Jiraiya-sama just told me?" Kakashi asked glaring at Naruto suspiciously. "And this time, I don't want some half assed excused that points vaguely at the Kyuubi, I want the truth."

Naruto sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get anything passed Kakashi this time. "Look Kakashi, I know you're suspicious of me, and I know your reasons are legitimate. Hell, I even know I'm a crap enough actor that you probably have enough reasons by now that you could accuse me on the spot. But before you go running of to the Hokage, I need you to consider one thing. I can't tell you the reasons behind all of my actions, nor can I properly explain how I know the Rasengan. Even if I did choose to share that information, I have no doubt that you would never believe me anyway and would go running off thinking I'm insane and mentally unbalanced. I know how stupid this all sounds, I mean honestly, what could be so unbelievable about a twelve year old? Well let me tell you, you don't know the half of it. And unfortunately, you probably never will…at least not until this is all over." The last part he muttered more to himself then Kakashi.

"Look Naruto, as much as I want to take your word for it and forget about all this, I can't. There's just too many things about you that don't add up! Let's start from the very beginning. I get this team after being told by many different people exactly what to expect of you. Some told me you were stupid, some told me you were lazy, most told me you were loud and annoying, and almost all of them told me you were a monster. However, within the space of just a few hours, you shot down all those claims and exceeded my highest expectations of you. You proved every single thing that each of them said wrong, until I had no idea _what_ to make of you. As much as I try to discern my own impressions of people, what all of them had said had to at least have _some_ truth to it, simply because they _all_ said it. As far as I could tell, you had changed over night.

"Then you surprised me even more by figuring out the meaning behind the bell test, and proceeding to help your team mates, where they would never have thought to help you. Then when we had that first D-rank, with the fire lady's cat? you surprised me even more by figuring out the meaning behind the bell test, and proceeding to help your team mates, where they would never have thought to help you. You proceeded to change Sasuke's attitude towards _everything_ in one night, and you completely changed his views on his ambition and even managed to crack through his icy exterior and reach the person within him. You managed to bring the almighty Uchiha down a few pegs until he treated you all like equals. You made him rethink his entire reason for living, and caused him to throw all that aside and live for the presence.

"Then, there's your skills. You learned advanced taijutsu that was a combination of many different styles seemingly over night, when before it was reported that your taijutsu was similar to that of a street brawler. You, barely a genin, went toe to toe with Zabuza Momochi and almost won. You designed a special seal to fix a problem you shouldn't even have had at this point. You picked up tree-climbing and water-walking faster then Sakura, and most impressive of all…you performed a flawless one handed Rasengan on your first try _without_ the hand seals! You blame all this on the Kyuubi, but truly, you shouldn't even be in contact with the demon yet. It's all just too suspicious!"

Naruto sighed wearily, not knowing what to say. "I know it seems impossible Kakashi, and I _know_ how suspicious it all sounds, but you _have_ to trust me! As much as I want to tell you the truth, I can't. You wouldn't believe me…hell, if we'd switched positions, _I_ wouldn't believe me! But I'm asking you now _not_ to pursue your suspicions and to just _trust_ that I'm doing all this for a reason…and hopefully one day I'll be able to tell you the truth."

Kakashi shook his head slightly, rubbing his temples to ward off a headache. "I want to believe you Naruto, but what proof can you give me?"

"I can give you nothing but my word, Kakashi-sensei, and I only pray that that will be enough."

…AR…

Gaara sighed as he walked down the dirt path, his brother and sister on either side of him. As much as he enjoyed seeing his brother alive, he missed the old version of his sister…he missed the smart, tactical, advisor and confidant that the girl had become. In the future, Temari was the one you'd go to if you needed advice or support. She was the one person who always seemed to know the answer to any problem. She was the one who had been there for him when Kankuro had been killed, the only one who had seen him cry when Naruto had been captured briefly by Sound. She was the one who had convinced him to admit his feelings about Naruto, the one constant in his life whose support had never wavered from his side.

He idly wondered if the old Temari was even alive right now…if she had survived the war so far. Somehow, he doubted it. The way things had been going when they had left, he would have thought that the small resistance that was Konoha would be finished within the month. It wouldn't, however particularly surprise him if they _had _survived…after all, they were a resilient bunch, and they had proven that time and time again when they had survived through seemingly impossible situations.

"What's on your mind, Gaara?" Kankuro asked. That as another thing Gaara had changed this time around; his siblings no longer lived in fear of him killing them for simply voicing their opinions or concerns. In the few months he had been in this timeline, he had proved to them that he had changed, and that he was no longer the boy he used to be.

"Nothing, just thinking about the exams…" He muttered, making up an excuse quickly.

"You're not worried, right?" Temari asked with a laugh. "We know you're the strongest whose going to be there." Gaara merely 'hm'ed in response.

"Actually, I was thinking about how we're not going to follow the Kazekage's orders." That shocked them.

"What!" Kankuro exclaimed. "But…what happened to the plan?"

"The _plan_ has been changed." Gaara muttered irritably. "I'm afraid I no longer see the logic in breaking the alliance with the Leaf and supporting Sound. Orochimaru is going to loose."

"What? How can you say that?" Temari asked incredulously.

Gaara rolled his eyes. "I say that, because the other two of the sannin are going to be there, and there is no way that Orochimaru could take on both of them _and_ the Hokage, is there?"

"What! The other sannin are there?" Temari asked. Gaara nodded. "And how do you know this?"

Gaara smirked slightly. "My contact in Konoha told me so himself."

Kankuro raised an eyebrow. "Really? And when did you have time to see this contact?"

Gaara frowned. "Who said anything about seeing him? I don't need to see him to get in contact with him. Now the new plan, is fairly simple. When Orochimaru gives his order, we will do nothing. When the Sound initiates the attack, we will help Konoha. That is all." He shot a look at Kankuro, who had opened his mouth to argue. "If you have a problem with that, then keep in mind that I haven't killed anyone in months…and Shukaku's getting hungry."

Kankuro's mouth snapped shut with an almost audible snap as he stared fearfully at the future Kazekage. "I see no problem."

Gaara smirked widely, letting his amusement be known. "I thought that might be the case."

**A/N: Um, one thing…did I say that Temari died in the first chapter? Sorry if I did, cause…obviously…she didn't. My mistake. How was that chapter? I don't think I handled Kakashi's confronting of Naruto too well…but meh, it was the best I could do. Again, it's too late to re read it and catch any mistakes I doubtlessly have made, so excuse the errors. Sorry!**


	9. Cheating is the Key

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Naruto/Gaara, Sakura/Shino, Sasuke/Temari, Shikamaru/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka (mentioned only). Pairings are set now.**

**A/N: Don't really have anything to say this time…just read the one at the bottom.**

**Chapter nine: Cheating is the Key**

"Naruto!" Naruto turned at the sound of his name, a greeting died on his lips as he stared bewilderedly at the sight that met him. Sasuke was running towards him, wearing what was as close to a grin as an Uchiha could possible get, and looking quite excited.

"Naruto, guess what!" Sasuke exclaimed, his eyes lit with excitement.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, peering curiously at his friend. "Okay, what?" He asked, wondering what could possibly have gotten the dark haired boy so enthusiastic.

"During training this morning, when me and Kakashi-sensei were working on the Chidori, I activated my clans' kekkai genkai, the Sharingan!" Naruto grinned and congratulated Sasuke, who took a few minutes to calm down. Once he had recollected himself, he turned and smirked triumphantly at Naruto.

"You know what that means, right dobe?" Naruto internally groaned. "I can kick your ass!"

"Don't count on it," Naruto muttered, shaking his head. As they drew closer and closer to the bridge, their moods became more sombre. For that day was the day that the first of the chuunin exams would take place, and it started in about half an hour. Sasuke, who didn't know that it was merely a written test, was running through the list of jutsus he knew, and making sure he had all the hand seals accurately committed to memory. He was also practicing turning his newly developed Sharingan on and off, should the case arise during the exam that he might need it.

Finally they reached the bridge, where Kakashi and Sakura were waiting for them. "Alright guys," came his predictable response. "Today is the day that we've been training for. So go out there, do your best and make me proud, okay? I have every confidence that you will pass, after all, it is not quite as hard as it is made out to be. Please remember that while this is Konoha's opportunity to prove to the other villages how great its shinobi are, it is also a chance to strengthen our alliances with these villages. So please don't offend of attack them outside the exams, okay?" The three mutely agreed. "Good. Now let's go."

…AR…

After quietly pointing out to his team mates that the 'chuunin' blocking the door was merely a genjutsu, Naruto lead them down the correct corridor, in order to get to room 103. **(It was 103 right? Sorry, but VEOH and You tube still aint working, so I can't check any of this.)** Sakura had protested, claiming that they should have told the other teams that it was a genjutsu, but Sasuke had quickly quieted her by informing her that the less teams that made it to the exam, the better chance their own team had of passing. They made their way to the correct door, before opening it and entering quietly. The scene that met them shocked Sasuke and Sakura slightly by the sheer number of genin assembled in the room, but Naruto nudged them out of their shock and started leading them through the crowded room. They had barley cleared the doorway by a few steps, however, when a large group of kids from their old academy walked over to them, Kiba Inuzuka in the lead.

"What do we have here!" He exclaimed, smirking widely with Akamaru on his head. "It's Uchiha, the dead-last and the fan girl. You can't honestly be here for the chuunin exams?"

"Actually, we are dog breath." Sasuke stated coolly, jumping to his team's defence. "But that doesn't explain why _you_ are here…?"

Kiba glared as Sasuke, causing Akamaru to growl slightly from his perch on Kiba's head. "What's it to you, Uchiha? Last I heard, I was insulting dead last over there, not you."

"You insult him then you'd better be ready to deal with me." Sasuke snapped, before being pushed aside by Naruto.

"Shut up Sasuke, I can speak for myself." Naruto muttered, shooting an annoyed look to his dark haired companion, who merely shrugged and stepped back. Naruto turned to Kiba, smirking inwardly as he used a small amount of the Kyuubi's chakra to make his eyes flash red. "What was that, Inuzuka?" Kiba looked a little unsettled as Naruto's eyes became slitted and took on a red hue, before throwing it off and glaring back at Naruto defiantly. **(NOTE: I used defiantly in the right context here! I don't know if anyone noticed, but before I kept accidentally spelling definitely as defiantly in the first six or so chapters.) **

"You think you're intimidating? You're just the dead last, dead last." Kiba's comeback was cut off as Akamaru began to whimper slightly, feeling the demonic chakra in the air. This made Kiba weary where Naruto's eyes didn't, causing him to back off a little.

Naruto smirked. "That's what I thought." He then turned to his team mates. "Sasuke, Sakura, let's go. We need not consort with these lesser folk of such common breeding." Naruto said pompously, sticking his nose in the air. He thought he pulled of the stick-in-my-ass-Hyuuga-cross-Uchiha quite nicely if he did say so himself. Sakura laughed and Sasuke smirked at his display, but followed him nonetheless.

"Tch. How troublesome…" Shikamaru Nara muttered from behind Kiba, seemingly his normal, bored self. But if one were too look beneath the underneath, so to speak, one might notice a new fierce light that shone in his eyes.

Naruto, being one of the few people who would notice such a small difference, gave the boy a strange look in passing. Shikamaru merely smirked…and in that moment, Naruto was certain. He turned to his team mates and frowned before muttering, "I'll be back in a minute, I just remembered that I forgot something." He then turned and walked back out the door, glancing suggestively at Shikamaru as he passed. A few moments later, Shikamaru made his excuses and followed the blonde into the deserted hallway.

Naruto raised an eyebrow curiously. "What do we fight for?" He asked, half expecting the lazy boy to give him a strange look and walk away. However, Shikamaru's smirk merely widened as he answered softly.

"We fight for each other, and so that Konoha may survive to see the fruits of our labour." Naruto gasped, his eyes widening.

"Shika?" He whispered. "It's really you?" Shikamaru nodded, grinning slightly at the dumbfounded look that was decorating Naruto's face. "But…how?"

"It's a long story, and one I will certainly tell you right after the exam. Oh, and Sasuke's here too."

"What!" Naruto exclaimed. "But…" He looked towards the closed door. "Sasuke…?"

Shikamaru shook his head, looking slightly confused. "I'm not sure what happened…but, Sasuke was unable to merge with his counterpart upon entrance into this timeline. He tried, but for some reason, he was rejected. Thankfully, this Sasuke thinks it was all some fucked up dream or something. Our Sasuke thinks it has something to do with how much his counterpart has changed from how he himself was at this time the first time around."

Naruto nodded slowly. "That would make sense. This Sasuke sure is a hell of a lot different to how our Sasuke was at this age, that's for sure." He glanced over at the door. "Well we gotta go back in…but I can't wait to hear how this all happened! Where's Sasuke now?"

"He's henged as raven, he'll be joining us for the second exams. Speaking of animals, what's with the rabbit?" Shikamaru asked, cocking an eyebrow at the bundle of white fur that was huddled in Naruto's jacket, with it's little (adorable) head poking out the top above the zipper.

"It's a long story," Naruto grinned. "I'll tell you later. I'll go back in first, you follow a few minutes later."

Naruto turned and walked back through the door, heading over to where Sasuke and Sakura were waiting. A few minutes later, Ibiki entered the room and assigned them all their seat numbers. The first chuunin exam was about to begin.

...AR…

Naruto laughed to himself as he read the first question, wondering how on earth he thought that they were hard he first time. He quickly scribbled the answer to the first question, before turning his test over, not even bothering with the rest. He turned to see Shikamaru a few rows behind him, having already done the same. Naruto cursed silently as he realised the genius had beaten him to it, and sighed loudly. His eyes then fell to Sasuke, who was glaring vehemently at the piece of paper before him.

Sasuke looked up and met Naruto's eyes. Naruto raised a finger to his eyes and tapped the corner twice, before glancing pointedly at a 'genin' a few rows up who was in actuality a chuunin. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, looking confused for a moment, before comprehension dawned in his eyes. Sasuke shut his eyes for a moment, and reopened them a brilliant red. Naruto then held up one finger and pointed to his turned over paper. Sasuke nodded, motioning that he understood that he need only complete the first question.

Naruto then turned to look at Sakura, who was already scribbling down furiously. He smirked, knowing that his team would be among the first to finish at this rate. He looked again to Shikamaru, who was glaring frustratedly at Ino, who hadn't grasped the concept just yet. He turned to meet Naruto's gaze, who merely smirked and motioned to where his own team mates were already copying down answers. In that moment, a fierce competition began between the two of them.

Shikamaru, knowing Ino would take a while to figure out the test's purpose, quickly turned to her and performed the shadow possession jutsu. Once he had control over her body, he then lifted his pencil, causing Ino to do the same. He placed his pencil over the lines he had already made on his own paper, and then traced over them carefully. Once he had finished the first answer, he turned over his paper, causing Ino to do the same, before breaking the jutsu. Ino turned around and smiled thankfully at him, before motioning to Choji…who wasn't even looking at the paper. He was merely stuffing his face with food and staring at the front of the room, seemingly having given up.

Ino nodded at Choji, suggesting that he should do the same thing to Choji as he had done to her. Shikamaru sighed and shook his head, for Choji was too far away and at the wrong angle for Shikamaru's shadows to reach him. He looked back over at Naruto, who was still smirking. A quick glance told him that Sasuke had already finished and had turned over his paper, and Sakura looked to be almost done. Of course, Sakura didn't know that she only really had to do the first question…which left Shikamaru a little time to figure out how to get Choji to pass.

He glanced at Ino, wordlessly suggesting her mind swap technique. Ino shook her head, pointing between her and Choji, expressing that they were not in a directly straight line. Shikamaru sighed and went into his 'thinking pose' trying to figure out a strategy to use in order to win the unofficial competition between him and Naruto.

Meanwhile, Naruto was looking quite pleased with himself. He figured he had already won, since here was no way that he could see Shikamaru influencing Choji…Choji would have to figure it out himself, and by that time, Sakura would already have finished. Naruto glanced towards Gaara and his siblings, and was not surprised to see that they too had already turned over their papers. His eyes met Gaara's for the briefest of moments, before they both smirked and looked away.

Naruto found himself scanning the room, this time trying to pick out the chuunin from the genin. He thought he located three, including the one he had pointed out to Sasuke. One sat a few rows forwards and three seats to Naruto's left. The way that Naruto could pick him out, was from the satisfied look on the chuunin's face, yet the slow, leisurely pace at which they were writing. They did, after all, have give the genin some time to copy their answers. The second was right at the back, second from the right. This chuunin was making _too_ much of a fuss about the exam for it to be genuine. He was sweating like a pig and looked incredibly worried…as if he was about to break down in tears. This would ultimately throw the genin off, thinking that he couldn't possibly have the right answers if he was that nervous about it.

Naruto turned to the front and met the proctor, Ibiki's eyes with something akin to respect in his shining blue ones. _Nice job,_ they seemed to read, _If I weren't so smart I would never have guessed it._ The proctor, however, merely looked confused.

Naruto sighed and turned to check on Choji's process…only to have his smirk fall as he realised that Choji was done, his exam turned over. He clanked quickly to Sakura, who was still writing. "Oh man…" He groaned softly, hesitantly meeting Shikamaru's triumphant gaze. He raised an eyebrow in question, only to have Shikamaru point lazily towards the window…where the sun had risen in the sky, causing the shadows to shift and _just_ putting Choji within Shikamaru's range.

Naruto sighed in defeat before holding up one finger, and then pointing to Shikamaru, as if saying, _round one goes to you._ He heard a soft snicker behind him and whirled around to find the source of the noise…before meeting Gaara's amused gaze. He glared at the red head before turning and staring pointedly at the front, crossing his arms over his body and mentally cursing Sakura for her need to complete the entire test.

Finally, after another half an hour of waiting, the proctor informed them that it was time for the final question. Just like last time, many people dropped out quickly after hearing that they would not be allowed to repeat the test if they failed. Unlike last time, however, this time Naruto remained silent, causing a few more teams to drop out then before. Finally, once the proctor was sure that there would be no more drop outs, he grinned at them. "Everyone still here…you pass!" Many confused stares met this statement, causing Ibiki to elaborate. "A ninja needs to be brave, even when it may mean that they will have to give up the thing that they want the most. A ninja can not just give up when things look like they might take a turn for the worst; a ninja must keep going regardless of the conditions. Every person that chickened out and walked out of here was too afraid to risk themselves for the greater good. Therefore they do not deserve to become chuunin. You people, when faced with the choice of leaving now or failing and not being able to try again, chose the right path, and for that, you pass." His speech concluded with the shattering of a window and the entrance of a purple haired, fish net wearing kunoichi with a whistle around her neck…otherwise known as Mitarashi Anko.

…AR…

"You have ten minutes. Meet back here in time, or we'll start without you." Anko announced, before walking away from the gates to battle training grounds #44, AKA the Forest of Death.

Naruto turned away and skimmed the crowd, finally picking out Shikamaru, who was making his way over towards him. Naruto turned to his team mates and quickly made an excuse, before walking off about fifty metres to the left of the large group of genin. Shikamaru followed, finally meeting him out of sight behind some trees.

"Alright Shika, explain! I'm dying to here this story!" Naruto exclaimed, looking at his friend in earnest.

Shikamaru shook his head at the excitable blonde before yawning widely. "Calm yourself Naruto; we still have to wait for Sasuke and Gaara." A few moments later, and a raven circled above them, before landing on the ground before them. After a few seconds, it began to change and take the shape of a familiar twelve year old genin.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed happily, striding over to his friend and pulling him into an enthusiastic hug. "I haven't seen you in months!"

"No dobe, I haven't seen _you_ in months. _You_ have seen _me_ every day." Sasuke said, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

"Still the same old Sasuke, I see." Naruto muttered, rubbing his head where Sasuke had hit it.  
Sasuke arched an elegant eyebrow. "I take it that's a bad thing?"

Naruto shook his head, surprising Sasuke. "No, actually…the new Sasuke's great and all, but I can't help missing my favourite teme!"

"Nor can I, dobe." Sasuke said affectionately, smiling at the friend he hadn't seen for months.

"Sorry to break this up," a voice muttered to their left. "But we don't exactly have a lot of time." The three of them turned to see an annoyed looking Gaara, leaning against a tree.

"Gaara," Sasuke nodded, smiling slightly.  
"Sasuke, Shikamaru," Gaara inclined his head slightly to each of them.

"Okay, first things first." Naruto announced. "Sasuke, explain the whole situation regarding why you didn't merge with your past self, yet you're still twelve rather then twenty-two?"

Sasuke sighed, rubbing his temples slightly. "I'm not too sure myself, although I have a theory. When we 'arrived', for lack of a better word, my body did attempt to merge with this Sasuke's…however, it became quite painful, and so I stopped it. I then found myself in this body, staring at another Sasuke who looked exactly the same. I used a jutsu to put him to sleep, so I figure he probably thinks it was all a dream. I believe that I wasn't able to merge, because my past self has change so much in this timeline. From the brief look I got in his mind, we are completely different people. At that age, I was conceited, arrogant, hell bent on revenge and a typical Uchiha prodigy. He, however, has changed completely from how I used to be, and has a completely different outlook on life in general. Therefore, it was impossible for our consciences to merge like yours did. I believe that Shikamaru was able to merge with his counterpart, because his counterpart had remained the same throughout this timeline. That's my theory, anyway."

Naruto nodded, agreeing with his rival-turned-friend. "I think Sasuke's right, that seems like a logical answer. What do you think genius?" He asked, looking at Shikamaru.

"I agree with Sasuke." Shikamaru said simply, yawning slightly. "Tch, this is all so troublesome."

Naruto rolled his eyes before addressing the next issue. "Okay, well now can someone explain how you guys even got here? Things didn't…end…so quickly, did they?"

Shikamaru sighed, looking away as a strange emotion clouded his eyes. "I'm afraid so. Yesterday…we took a great loss. We lost Neji just two days ago, and then yesterday the sound finally found base…they got Temari and Lee, leaving us as the last ones. To stop the jutsu scroll from being recovered by the enemy, we had to use the jutsu on the scroll, the Breaker of Decades jutsu, and take the scroll with us…and pray to god it would work. Surprisingly, it did. I have no idea how or why though…logically, there should have been no way for us to have enough chakra between us to fuel that jutsu."

Naruto knew that there was nothing he could say or do to ease the grief that his two friends felt at losing their lovers. At least they would have another chance to be with them, in this timeline.

Gaara sighed slightly, looking saddened by this news. "I never did get to have that rematch with him…" He muttered, his voice sounding bitter. His thoughts strayed to Temari, to all the times they had shared together. Gaara shook his head and clamped down on those thoughts, banishing them from his mind. "The important thing is, we have another chance now. Let's not waste it this time." At Gaara's words, everyone felt themselves agreeing, for they indeed were lucky to have the opportunity to try again.

"We kill that snake faced bastard and we will make things right." Sasuke announced proudly, his eyes blazing with determination. "I swear this on my lover's grave, and those of everyone we have lost."

"So mote it be." Naruto muttered, looking up to the sky. He could see the sun high in the sky, its rays lighting up the world and filling them with hope. Hope for the future.

**A/N: Oh god. Was the end as corny as I thought it was? –Sigh- I suck at ending the chapters. Just kill me now. **

**Hopefully that wasn't too confusing…if you have questions, feel free to ask and I'll try clear it up. I know that if I was in your place, I would definitely be confused o.0 Also, I think that was the longest chapter so far, totalling at 3,446 words, not including any of the bold writing. So y'all better congratulate me!**


	10. Losing the Battle

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Naruto/Gaara, Sakura/Shino, Sasuke/Temari, Shikamaru/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka (mentioned only). Pairings are set now.**

**Chapter nine: Losing the Battle**

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked, peering at Naruto curiously as he began to turn away from his team mates.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "To get some scrolls, of course. You guys just keep heading straight for the tower…Raven'll lead you there. I'll catch up once I have the scroll we need…and maybe some extras if I'm lucky." He flashed a grin at Sasuke before turning and disappearing into the trees, Taki residing under his jacket.

"Okay Taki…" He muttered as he dashed through the trees. "Get ready, I'm gonna need your help." He upped his speed and dashed around for a few minutes, before finally skidding to a halt on top of a large branch. He grinned as he spotted the leaf team made up of two girls and one boy. The smaller of the girls had long black hair in two pig tails and dark green eyes. The taller one had brown hair and brown eyes, while the boy had spiky black hair and grey eyes. Naruto didn't recognise them, but just looking at the girls, he figured that they would be easy opponents.

"Peeeeerfect…" He hissed, grinning to himself. He then unzipped his jacket and jumped from the branch, landing soundlessly on the ground below. He jumped into some conveniently placed bushed before he could be seen, before releasing his rabbit. Taki sniffed the air before hopping obediently out over to the genin team, favouring his right front paw heavily. He whimpered a little…if rabbits can whimper…gaining the attention of the black haired girl.

"Oh! KAWAIIII!!" She exclaimed, before tears came to her eyes as she realised the 'pain' that the little rabbit was in. "Oh, poor little thing!" She gushed, reaching out and pulling it onto her lap. "What's wrong with your leg little one?"

The boy rolled his eyes, walking over to his team mate. "Do you _have_ to do this? We are supposed to be looking for that Earth scroll…wait, we _do_ need an Earth scroll, right?" He frowned before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a Heaven scroll. "Yep, we need an Earth scroll." The rabbit locked its eyes onto its prize, before jumping off the girl's lap and leaping at the boy before the two could blink. In a flash the scroll was in its teeth and it was hopping back towards its owner.

The three genin stood in shock for a moment, mouths open wide in shock. Who could blame them? I mean, who suspects a _rabbit_ of trying to steal scrolls? Obviously not _this_ team. "Good boy!" Naruto exclaimed, before stepping out of the bush and bowing to the other team. "My work here, is done." He announced, before scooping Taki into his arms and racing off into the trees.

…AR…

Meanwhile, Sasuke was following Sasuke…uh, Raven as he will now be known…in a direct path that he assumed headed straight for the tower. Sasuke sighed slightly, grimacing at this thought. He was entrusting his chances of becoming a chuunin to a _bird_? Sure, Naruto had a history of bringing smart, useful pets out of no where, but really!

The bird circled back over to them, and landed on Sasuke's shoulder, apparently tired from the flight. It squawked and jabbed its leg out straight, as if to say 'just continue in a straight line'. "Oh, you're tired huh?" He grumbled, figuring now was as good a time as any to rant. "What about me! We've been running for…" He did some mental calculations. "Nearly an hour!" He paused. "Okay, so it's not _that_ long, but running has _got_ to be a hell of a lot harder then flying, right? I mean, all you have to do is flap your wings, no physical exertion whatsoever." The bird merely looked at him with a superior expression, tilting its beak up slightly. Finally, the bird jumped off Sasuke's shoulder and flew a little ahead, but not without leaving a little…present on Sasuke's shirt. Sasuke glared at the bird, which seemed to be doing the best imitation of a smirk that a bird could possibly do.

His interaction with the raven was cut short when Naruto appeared out of no where right beside Sasuke. "Yah!" He exclaimed, slapping a hand to his thumping heart. "Don't _do_ that!" he hissed, glaring at the smirking blonde. A few moments passed as they darted from tree to tree, Sakura just a few steps behind them. "Did you get a scroll?" He finally asked, looking apprehensively at the other boy.

"Yup." Naruto said, pulling out the Heaven scroll and throwing it to Sasuke, who caught it, and put it with their Earth scroll.

Sasuke nodded his approval, and they continued, following the raven. Finally they stopped after about half an hour. The raven circled overhead before perching on Naruto's arm. Naruto studied it for a moment as it tapped its foot on Naruto's hand a few times and then flapped its wings twice. Naruto nodded, and the bird flew away in the opposite direction. "Raven says the tower is straight ahead from here, and if we hurry, we shouldn't meet any other teams. Although there is another leaf team not far ahead we can probably avoid them…or kick their asses if necessary…and an allied team is close by."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. 'Allied team? And which would that be?"

"Shika's team, one of the rookie teams. Shikamaru Nara, who happens to be a good friend of mine, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi." Naruto said as they resumed their course, Sakura panting slightly from behind them.

"Hm." Sasuke said, before asking, "When did you become friends with Nara?"

Naruto waved the question off. "Oh just you know…that time between missions when we…" His voice trailed off as he deliberately got just a little too far away from Sasuke, placing himself just out of hearing range.

…AR…

Shikamaru sighed as Ino complained _yet again_ about the pace he had set for the group. He had slunk off for a few minutes earlier and returned with the required Earth scroll, having 'convinced' a rain team to give up their scroll. Now he was set on making it to the tower before Naruto did, for their competition continued. While he had won the written test part, he knew that Naruto would likely win the one on one battle part, simply because his team was stronger. Therefore, Shikamaru figured he _had_ to win the Forest of Death part, otherwise he may loose over all…and that was just unacceptable. It was troublesome to go to such efforts ti win, but unacceptable to loose nonetheless.

He and Naruto's tradition of turning everything into a competition between them had started six years ago, when the two of them had both entered the Jounin exams. They had been the only two in their group (Naruto, Shika, Gaara, Neji, Temari, Lee and Sasuke) who hadn't yet become Jounin, due to a few complications the year before. The year before, when they were fifteen, their close knit group had all decided that they were sick of being classed as Chuunin when technically they were all ANBU level, and so they had entered the Jounin exam. Shikamaru and Naruto, however, had been sparring rigorously the day before and had knocked each other out…and had therefore missed the application date.

So while all their friends became Jounin, they remained Chuunin until the next year, when their competitions started as they entered again. From the very beginning the Jounin exams, the two had been at each other's throats, betting that they themselves would do everything either better or faster then the other. In the end it had been a dead tie as Shikamaru had won the first challenge and Naruto the second…but they had both crossed the finish line in the final part of the Jounin exam at the same time. And so, since then, their lives were like a giant tie breaker, as they tried to settle who had rightfully won in that exam challenge six years ago…and ti had become a habit.

So now, the total scorings over the years stood at Shikamaru: 283 and Naruto: 284. Shikamaru had fallen behind a point when he had suffered an embarrassing loss when it came to the ramen eating contest Naruto had staged the night before he had used the time travel jutsu. Therefore, Shikamaru was one hundred percent determined to win this challenge even if, god forbid, it lost him a little sleep.

"Hurry the fuck up you lazy asses!" he called behind him, glaring vehemently at the sluggish blonde behind him.

"Hypocrite!" Ino shouted. "You have to e the laziest person I know! I swear, if breathing wasn't absolutely essential, you'd find even that 'too troublesome'!"

"Well I'm not the one who's running so slowly I could barely beat a freaking slug now, am I?" He exclaimed with a _lot_ more energy then his team mates were used to, before charging forward again.

"What's up with him?" Ino asked, panting slightly as she and Choji tried to catch up to their unofficial leader.

"I don't know…I've never seen him this enthusiastic about _anything_ in my entire life! And we've been friends for a while…" Choji muttered, before shrugging and pulling out a bag of crisps.

…AR…

"So…what do we do now?" Temari asked, leaning against the wall of the tower.

"Do we open the scroll?" Kankuro asked, looking up at Gaara.

Gaara smirked, closing his eyes as he rested against the wall. "No…not just yet. First, we wait. I want to be here to see who wins…" The last part was mostly muttered to himself, as he thought back on the six-year-long competition that was going on between Shikamaru and Naruto. Gaara had bet on Naruto, but then, he'd been obliged to. Sasuke had bet on Shikamaru…and after witnessing Naruto's incredibly embarrassing defeat in their Shogi competition, he was starting to wish he had the freedom to vote for who he actually thought would win. Evidently, his bet had been a small one in comparison to Sasuke's.

…AR…

"We're nearly there…come on guys, move faster!" Naruto exclaimed, egging his team on. "We've been out here for…one hour and forty-nine minutes. We _have_ to make it in before two hours passes…or else." He glared heatedly at his team mates, killer intent leaking out into the air around them. Sasuke gulped slightly and nodded, Sakura mirroring his actions.

"Good." Naruto hissed, his eyes alit with excitement as he stared determinedly forward, his eyes set on his goal.

…AR…

"If you lazy ass holes don't hurry the fuck up, I'm going to murder you where you stand!" Shikamaru screamed, his eyes glaring at his team mates like raging pits of flame.

Ino was panting hard as she tried to keep up with Shikamaru, but she just didn't have the physical ability. "Please…Shika…can we…rest!" She gasped, sweat pouring down her face.

"No!" Shikamaru snapped. "We've been out here for an hour and fifty-two minutes. If we don't make it there before two hours is up, you guys are dead!" He hissed, releasing a huge amount of killer intent, hoping to scare his team mates into finding the motivation they needed to run _faster_.

…AR…

"Come on Sasuke! We didn't train for nothing! If you can't keep up with a dead last like me, then you must be weaker then everyone! Sakura! We have seven minutes to make it to the tower and if we don't make it, I'm going to barbeque your ass and eat it with my ramen!"

…AR…

"Come on idiots, and here you thought _I_ was lazy! We only have about six minutes left!" Suddenly, Shikamaru slowed to a dead halt as inspiration hit him with the force of a freight train. "That's IT!" He turned to his team mates, holding up a hand and performing some seals. "Kage mane no jutsu!" He exclaimed, stretching out his shadows to capture his team mates. Then, he sprinted forward with no time to waste, his team mates being dragged along behind him with the force of the jutsu.

…AR…

"Five minutes…" Naruto muttered, grinding his teeth together in frustration. _What can I do?_ He thought, searching quickly through his list of possible jutsus, looking for the answer. He could use shadow clones to carry them…but then with the added weight of his team mates they would be even slower then Sasuke and Sakura themselves! He just needed them to hold out a little longer…maybe they were far enough ahead of Shikamaru to win…maybe…

…AR…

Gaara looked up from the stopwatches in his hands as he felt the chakra signatures of both Naruto and Shikamaru heading his way. He glanced back down at the two stopwatches as he felt them coming closer and closer. One hour and fifty-seven minutes….No visible sign of either yet…One fifty-eight…Gaara could just make out their forms as they broke out of the trees, their team mates running behind them…One fifty-nine…they were drawing closer, closer, closer….Gaara slammed his finger down on the button on one of them, before stopping the other about half a second later.

The two teams skidded to a halt right in front of him, neither knowing whether the other had won of not. "Who won!" Naruto exclaimed. "Who won, who won, who won!"

"First place…with a time of two minutes and……one and a half seconds was….Naruto." Gaara said emotionlessly, adding in dramatic pauses just to annoy the hyperactive blonde. "And second was Shikamaru, with two minutes and two seconds. I'm not impressed. You people said under two minutes."

His comment was drowned out by Naruto's enthusiastic screams. "I WON! I WON, I WON, I WON! Ya hear that guys, I WON!" He turned to look at his team mates…who were sitting on the floor, gasping for breath. He shrugged and looked at Shikamaru, who looked positively livid. He turned to his team, his eye brow twitching ever so slightly.

"What the _hell_ was THAT!" He roared, killer intent practically rolling off him in waves. "You two! Get up, now! I want three hundred laps around this room IMMIDIATELY!" As the two incredibly tired teenagers jumped up and began the assigned laps, Shikamaru continued to rant. "Do you know what you just did! You just made me _loose_ to the _dead last!_ The DEAD LAST for Kami's sake! Do you know what that makes me? The freaking BURIED last! The CREMATED last! The _digested-by-worms-and-slowly-degraded-into-nothingness_ last! Argh! I have just one more thing to say to you two." He turned his glare on full power and concentrated his killing intent on the two figures still running sluggishly around the room. "You had _better_ kick some _ass_ in the nest part of the exams!"

"Wow…" Naruto muttered to Gaara, looking on the scene with wide eyes. "I haven't seen him this riled up since…since that incident with the baby-sitting challenge two years ago…"

-Flash back-

"_The challenge is simple." Temari announced with an evil looking grin. "You will each be assigned ten children under the age of seven that you will have to baby sit at the same time for one full night from six o'clock PM tonight to six o'clock AM tomorrow night. The clients have already been arranged, thanks to our dear Hokage's influence," She glanced at an apprehensive looking Naruto. "You will be judged on how well the panel of judges," She pointed to where Neji, Gaara, Lee and Sasuke stood, all grinning evilly. "Feel that you looked after the children's needs and handled the situation over all. It is nearly six now, so you should both be getting to your assigned houses. Your clients will be arriving within half an hour."_

_Half an hour later, Shikamaru smiled and shook the hand on the last parent, dropping off the final three children, which were three identical boys who must have been triplets. All the children were gathered in the dining room of the assigned house, smiling angelically and being incredibly well behaved. Oh this was going to be a breeze! He escorted the triplet's mother out the door and shut it behind him, sighing at the blissful silence. He wondered back into the dinging room, thinking maybe he could just put them all to bed now and have it done with. Alas, it was not to be. When he reached the dining room, he was slightly shocked and largely annoyed when none of the ten children were there. Thus started the house wide game of hide and seek._

_An hour later, And Shikamaru was at his wits end. These kids were monsters! "Ahh…calm down Rakumi, I'm sure Nesaki can't have hit you that hard…" _

"_Shut up idiot and my name is Razumi! That's Rakumi!" The boy yelled, pointing to his identical brother. _

"_Hey! No, That's Rakumi!" The boy he had pointed yelled, before pointing at the third identical brother. "I'm Ranumi!" _

"_No you're not!" Screeched the first one. "I'm Ranumi!"_

"_No, I wanna be Ranumi!" The third exclaimed, before punching the second. _

"_Too bad!" yelled the first, who appeared to be the leader of the three. "You can be Razumi if you don't want to be Rakumi and I'll be Ranumi!" _

"_Why don't we all be Ranumi!" The second screamed. _

"_NO! I WANNA BE THE ONLY RANUMI!" The third yelled, causing Shikamaru to wonder how five year olds could have such strong lungs. _

"_Fuck it!" He screamed, before bringing out a permanent marker. He then strode over to the three boys and drew a large number on each of their foreheads. "You're number one, you're number two and you're number three." _

"_No fair! I wanna be number one! Why does HE get t be number one!" Number two screeched, but his voice trailed off as he realised Shikamaru wasn't listening. Instead, he was trying to break up a fight between a particularly violent six year old and an arrogant four year old. He shook his head when he realised that the four year old was Neji's cousin, Hizari Hyuuga. _

"_Nesaki! Leave Hizari alone! Nesaki, I'm warning you, if you hit one more child I'm locking you in the isolation room!" The girl simply turned and bit hit leg. Hard. _

"_Argh!" Shikamaru howled. "That is the last straw! I've had it with you fucking kids!" A nearby five year old boy gasped, pointing at Shikamaru._

"_YOU SWEARED!" He roared, shocking Shikamaru by being even louder then the trumpeting triplets. "YOU SWEARED! SWEARING IS A FUCKING BAD THING TO DO!"_

"_What the fuck is your problem kid, you just told me not to swear while swearing in the same sentence? Does your mother know you use words like that!" _

"_I DIDN'T FUCKING KNOW THIS FUCKING WORD UNTIL YOU FUCKING TAUGHT IT TO ME!" The kid exclaimed, liking the sound of the new word he had learnt. He then turned and walked off, muttering, "Fuck, fuck, fucking, fuck, fuck, fucking…" to the tune of Mary had a little lamb. _

_The next morning Shikamaru stood before the 'panel of judges' awaiting verdict. He was utterly exhausted and dishevelled looking, his fish net top was ripped down the middle and one of his shoes was mysteriously missing. His hair had falling out of its pineapple like style and there were red spots and bruises all over his lower legs, as well as a few bite marks. _

"_Shikamaru, you loose this challenge." Sasuke announced, looking like he was restraining a laugh. "The conditions are…number one, you couldn't remember any of their names-"_

"_How the fuck was I supposed to remember their fucking names when they were changing them every three seconds!" Shikamaru exclaimed, glaring daggers at Sasuke._

"_Which brings me to number two, you taught those kids to swear-"_

"_Hey, that fucking kid was swearing before I was!" Shikamaru yelled defensively._

"_You did nothing to provoke violence and actually hit one of the kids-"_

"_It was a slap on the freaking shoulder! It didn't even bruise! They hurt me worse!" He exclaimed, gesturing to all the injuries he had sustained. _

"_-And," Sasuke continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "You didn't put them to bed until three o'clock in the morning." This had been the point where Shikamaru had gone off in a major rant filled with lots of colourful language and death threats. Oh yes, for a lazy ass slack off, when Shikamaru Nara exploded, he EXPLODED. _

-End Flashback-

"Oh that was priceless." Gaara muttered, shaking his head. "We got it on tape, too."

Naruto laughed. "And then we showed it at his twenty-first birthday party! Kami that was hilarious!"

Shikamaru finally calmed down enough to leave his team mates to collapse onto the floor, before stalking over to Naruto. "This isn't over." He stated. "We still have the third exams."

"Prepare to loose Nara!"

"Baka!"

"Teme!"

"Shika, you're starting to sound like Sasuke." Gaara muttered.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as he froze, before sliding back into his carefree, lazy ass persona. "Tch. This is all so troublesome."

**A/N: -Wince- That. Was. Horrible. Oh well, it's too late to go back and rewrite it now, so you're stuck with it I'm afraid. Since I figured that whole forest of death thing was so boring originally, I tried to spice it up with some humour…did it work? Unfortunately, I am no comedian and definitely shouldn't give up my day job…which I don't even HAVE yet, but I'm hoping to remedy that by my fourteenth birthday…which is next WEEK on the FOURTEENTH of JULY so BOOYAH! ****He escoHe escorted t**


	11. All for Nothing

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Naruto/Gaara, Sakura/Shino, Sasuke/Temari, Shikamaru/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka (mentioned only). Pairings are set now.**

**A/N: -winces-**

**Chapter Eleven: All for Nothing**

"Hm. So what now?" Sasuke asked, after he had finally gotten over his exhaustion. "Do we open the scrolls?"

The unofficial leaders of the three assembled teams glanced at each other meaningfully. "I think we should." Naruto announced loudly.

"I agree." The now calm Shikamaru said with a nod.

Gaara merely reached for his scrolls with a nod. The other two grabbed their scrolls, and then the three of them opened them together. There were three pop like noises and smoke filled the air, before three chuunin appeared beside the three. The one closest to Naruto was Iruka, and beside the others were two identical black haired chuunin who must have been twins. Iruka turned to the other two chuunin and nodded curtly.  
"I'll take care of all three, you guys can leave." The black haired chuunins nodded, before poofing away. Iruka went on to explain about what it meant to be a chuunin and all that, finally leaving after informing them that they would be required to remain in the tower for the rest of the five day period.

"Let's go, I need to talk to you guys." Shikamaru muttered, glancing at Gaara and Naruto, on whose shoulder Sasuke was perching in his raven henge. A few moments later, then three of them had disappeared form the main room where their team mates were gathered, and had regrouped in one of the three person dormitories located within the tower. Naruto lay sprawled out on one of the beds, Gaara leant against the wall and Shikamaru sat on one of the other beds in the room. Sasuke removed the henge and returned to his human shape, before performing a quick jutsu to ensure that nobody could enter the room without warning.

"What is it Shika?" Naruto asked curiously once they were all settled.

Shikamaru frowned before standing up and beginning to pace restlessly. "I'm still not completely sure, but I have a suspicion about the jutsu you two used to get here. If we are to assume it indeed took you to ten years ago in the _same_ timeline, then it would be safe to assume that things would begin changing from the moment of your arrival. Subtle things should have changed, becoming more and more significant as time passed. In the future where I was still alive, things would possibly change instantly, considering that 'technically' any changes you make, to us, have already happened. Therefore, while to you it would seem like things are taking months or years to change, to us it should have been an instant change, leaving us to most likely not even remember the timeline before you guys interfered. For if you were to successfully change time, we who were left in the future should definitely not remember the timeline before you changed it, and should be living in a new timeline from the second you two left. However, that did not happen. I became increasingly suspicious as _nothing_ changed after you two left, and even months later, there was still no change in _our_ timeline.

"This lead me to believe that something we had not foreseen had happened. At first, I thought that you must have failed, and become lost in the threads of time. But then I realised that with the particular jutsu you used, perhaps the intention of the jutsu was not to travel back in time…but to travel through _dimensions_. _That_ would explain why there was no change to our timeline. If you did indeed travel to a new dimension, rather then travel through time, then your reasons for doing so was meaningless, considering there was no way to save _your_ Konoha. Sure you could save _another_ Konoha, but not your own one.

"Right from the beginning, I was incredibly suspicious of this so called 'time travel jutsu'. The reason being, time travel is, or should be, completely and utterly impossible. The only way that time travel could be possible, was if there were billions of different timelines all playing out at the same time, and you merely needed to go back and revisit the timeline that occurred at the exact moment of ten years ago. And even then, it would not really be time travel, because anything you changed would have no effect on the original timeline. For this idea to be reasonable, there would have to be literally a new time for every single nanosecond that occurred, or even a new timeline for every nanosecond of every nanosecond of every _nanosecond_, and so it would continue until there was infinity timelines. These timelines, since they are actually not the same timelines as they have different events occurring in each one, could be referred to as _dimensions_.

"Suppose that after every single decision is made, a new dimension branched off from the _possibilities_ of scenarios that were could branch out from all the different outcomes that occurred. That would mean, that for every decision that is made by a life form, millions of new dimensions would be made, each describing the outcome of that life form choosing differently. It would then be possible to enter one of those alternate dimensions, and change things as you will so that it would differ from the original timeline. However, this would _still_ not change _anything_ in the original timeline. Therefore, you didn't go back in time, you merely switched dimensions."

Three pairs of eyes blinked once, blinked twice, blinked three times…

"Whoa! My brain is totally _fried!_" –Naruto

"I think that's the most I've ever heard Shikamaru be bothered to say." –Sasuke

"That makes sense." –Gaara

"Whaaa!" Naruto exclaimed. "How the hell can you say that that made sense?!"

"It's quite simple really." Gaara muttered. "Basically, to sum up what Shikamaru was saying, there is an incredibly high possibility that we did not infact come back in time, but merely relocated to one of the timelines that had branched off from this one at he point of ten years ago. Therefore, we are not really changing anything in our own time, merely making things better for a new one."

"Oh. Okay, I get it." Naruto muttered, rubbing his head sheepishly.

"No you _don't_ Dobe!" Sasuke sighed in exasperation. "Instead of going back in time, we went to a completely new timeline, and so everything you have done here so far has been completely useless in making our own timeline better, and is merely making this one a better place to be."

Naruto's eyes widened as a grim look passed over his features. "You mean…all this was for nothing?" He whispered, his voice soft and empty. "I abandoned my village and those that were left of my precious people merely to save my own skin?" The silence that met his question was the only answer Naruto needed. The blonde teen squeezed his eyes shut as his hands gripped into fists before he disappeared in a flurry of leaves and smoke.

…AR…

_I can't believe it…what a great Hokage I turned out to be. I just sit there enjoying the glory, and the moment my village needs my help, I disappear to another dimension to ensure my own safety. _

_**I'm sorry kit…I honestly didn't know that this was the true purpose of the jutsu.**_

_I know Kyuubi…it just hurts to realise that everything we did, everything I've tried to change…was all for nothing. _

_**For what it's worth, I believe you were a great Hokage. You were strong, brave, and you always put your village and your precious people before yourself. You were willing to die for that village, and if it weren't for Gaara, you would have…and for that, I am grateful to Shukaku's host. And while you cannot save your own timeline, think of all the good you can do, have already done, here. **_

_I feel like a coward…running from the face of danger like ants from a storm._

_**Stop wallowing in self pity and think about what you have. You still have your best friend, your rival/brother, and your lover. You also have another chance with everyone you've lost. While they may not be the exact same people as they were in your timeline, they are still close enough to gain comfort from, no?**_

_I suppose…why are you always so wise? For a Demon, you seem pretty sentimental and, God forbid, __**caring**__! Could it be…? The Great Kyuubi no Kitsune has feelings?_

_**Shut up brat, I can still eat you. Now hurry up and focus on your surroundings, someone's coming.**_

Naruto looked up from his position on the tower roof, and noticed that there was indeed someone approaching him. Soft, almost silent footsteps gave away the person's identity before Naruto even had to glance behind him.

"Gaara…" He greeted softly as he scanned the treetops, looking for any sign of movement. They sat in silence for long moments, neither of them wanting to break the tranquillity of the night. Finally, curiosity overwhelmed serenity, and Gaara broke the silence.

"Naru-chan," Naruto grimaced slightly at the nick name. "Why does Shikamaru's idea of alternate dimensions upset you so?" Gaara's voice was soft, lightly curious with an undertone of concern. To someone who did not know him as Naruto did, his tone of voice would sound exactly as it always seemed to; cold and distant. But because of the depth of their relationship, he, as well as Sasuke and Shikamaru, could pick up on the subtle hints of emotion that underlined his words.

Naruto sighed, his mind drifting back to the genius' words, and the revelation they had brought upon him. "I feel like I abandoned my village…the ones that were left, they trusted me to get them through it. They invested everything they had into my leadership, and I betrayed their trust. I came here and left them to die, thinking that I would be helping them, but really…it was all for nothing."

Gaara glanced at Naruto, longing to dispel the look of grief and regret that had washed over the blonde's normally smiling face. Naruto sighed and rested his head on Gaara's shoulder, his eyes still fixed on the bright crescent moon that illuminated the sky. Gaara smiled slightly; he would probably never admit it, but he had missed his little blonde Naru-chan in the months that they had been apart. Sure, he had spoken to him through their mental link, but it wasn't the same as being able to enjoy his physical companionship.

"I know what you mean," he admitted quietly, after several moments of silence. "I feel the same way about Kankuro and Temari. They are so different to how they were before…it almost hurts to compare these…these mere shadows to the great people they became in our timeline." Gaara's hand slid up Naruto's back to rest in his hair, his fingers twisting a few golden strands idly between them.

Naruto snuggled closer to Gaara, breathing in his unique scent. "Maybe they may still become the people you once knew, but maybe not. Either way, we should be grateful that we got to know the amazing people they were in the time we had with them. They may be gone physically, but in our hearts and in our memories, they will remain forever."

Gaara smirked down at Naruto, who arched an eyebrow questionably. "You should heed your own words Naru-chan, you just gave me the advice that you were looking for yourself." Naruto smiled sheepishly, accepting that the red head was right.

Suddenly he growled, a slight frown creasing his forehead. "You and Kyuubi, you're both so righteous! Why do you have to be so damn wise?" He muttered turning his face up to look at Gaara.

He smirked at the blonde before his expression faded to a sincere smile. "It's because we care about you Naru-chan…and because you look so damn cute when you pout!" As if to prove Gaara's point, Naruto subconsciously pouted, his bottom lip jutting out stubbornly. "My point exactly." Gaara said with a satisfied smirk. Naruto's only response was to sigh and snuggle closer until he was practically sitting in the red head's lap. He turned around so he was facing Gaara, instead of the forest behind him.

"I missed you, Gaara…" He murmured, his voice soft and sincere. His bright blue eyes met with the clear green of Gaara's, as a small smile spread across Gaara's face.

"Don't tell anyone Naru-chan, but…I missed you too." With Gaara's whispered statement, Naruto smiled and leant forward, his eyes still locked with Gaara's. Gaara closed the gap between them, his lips meeting Naruto's half way. His arms slid around Naruto's waist as the blonde returned the kiss with a gentle innocence that only Naruto could possibly hope to achieve. Their uncertainties lay forgotten in the back of their minds and their anxieties were compressed as they forgot it all and revelled in the feeling of completion.

…AR…

"Where were you last night?" Sasuke asked, his left eyebrow twitching slightly in irritation.

Naruto shrugged, glancing over at a scowling Sakura who stood a little behind Sasuke. "Catching up with some friends…" He muttered evasively, averting his eyes from his irritated team mates.

"I saw you leave with Shikamaru and Gaara." Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How do you know Subaku no Gaara?"

"We're friends…met a few years ago…" Naruto waved off his team mate's questions. "I have to go and train, you two would benefit from doing the same. The preliminaries and final exams will not be easy, don't expect to breeze through them like we did the first two." With that statement, Naruto turned and left the dorm room that team seven had been assigned, heading out to one of the training rooms that was located down the hall. He walked inside and placed his bag on the floor, before heading into the middle of the room and beginning to loosen up his muscles with some simple stretches.

A few minutes later he was warmed up, and he raised his hands to perform some hand seals. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Following the blonde's words, was a hell of a lot of smoke as approximately fifty shadow clones poofed into existence.

The clones all wore identical smirks as they turned to face their creator, who sunk into his familiar taijutsu stance. Suddenly, all at once, the clones rushed at Naruto. Naruto jumped and spun around, a strong kick dispelling three of his clones with a cloud of smoke. He crouched down and drew two kunai, one in each hand. He ducked under a clone's wild kick, stabbing it in the place slightly above where its heart would have been, had it not been a clone. It disappeared causing Naruto to feel a slight sense of satisfaction, before it was replaced with three more clones. He whirled around using his chakra to direct his blows as he moved with an incredible speed. Clones poofed out of existence around him until finally, there were only about twenty left. Naruto sheathed his kunai, deciding to switch to ninjutsu.

"Katon: Gokakyou no jutsu!" He placed two fingers to his lips and inhaled, before exhaling, emitting a huge fireball which proceeded to decimate five of his opponents. **(A/N: Okay, I'm switching to English for jutsus now cause I suck at Japanese)**

He turned and faced another six that were preparing to strike behind him, before raising his hands and skimming quickly through a line of seals. "Tsuchi: Ground splitting technique!" A huge earth quake sliced the floor in half; a huge rumbling reverberated off the walls. Several of the clones fell into the gaping hole in the floor, saluting their creator as they poofed out of existence. Fifteen clones remained and all leaped at him at the same time. Two of them landed blows before he jumped into the air, landing a fair bit away from them on the other side of the room.

"Mizu-Rai: Lightning flood technique!" He leapt up onto the ceiling, securing his feet there with chakra as water flooded into the room. Lightning began to strike the surface of the water, appearing out of no where. The clones were instantly 'killed' as they were electrocuted by the water's conductivity of the lightning bolts.

"Well that was effective." He muttered, as he surveyed the damage that his previously untested jutsu had caused. "Must remember to write that one down…" He dispelled the jutsu, causing the water and the lightning to disperse, before jumping down and landing on the ground.

He checked his stopwatch, frowning as he realised it had taken him thirty-eight minutes and three seconds to disperse fifty clones. "I'm getting slow…" He sighed, rubbing his head where he had been struck by one of his clones. "Damn it…those stupid clones actually hit me!"

…AR…

The next few days were filled with vigorous training from the three teams, and they were soon joined by a few other teams who had managed to make it to the tower. By the fourth day, everyone was feeling a little exhausted and becoming anxious about the next exam.

Naruto, Shikamaru and Gaara's team mates had become used to the three of them disappearing together for hours at a time, accepting it for what it was without too much complaint. Sasuke was a little annoyed thought at his team mate's apparent lack of interest towards Sasuke and Sakura, who both subconsciously felt that they deserved his attention more then Shikamaru and Gaara did.

Naruto, however, was spending his time catching up with his friends and learning of everything that had happened in their original timeline whilst he had been in this one. He had been saddened as Shikamaru and Sasuke spoke of the deaths of Neji, Lee and Temari, whom had still been alive while Naruto and Gaara had been there. On the fourth night, Gaara, who had just been told the full story of his sister's demise, was sitting on the tower roof much as Naruto had been on the first night. Naruto approached softly, although he knew that Gaara knew he was there. He sat down beside Gaara, silently offering his support.

Gaara was a master at hiding his emotions. He had been doing it for years, ever since he was six years old. At first, it had been a defensive mechanism of locking away his feelings so as not to be disappointed. Then, once he had met and become friends with Naruto, it had been to stop his new friends worrying over him as they were prone to do. Finally, as the war progressed, he used it as a way to reassure the people he lead as the Kazekage and not show that he felt just as lost and hopeless as they did. Since he was six years old, he had never shed a tear while in the company of others. Not one. He saw it as a weakness that was unacceptable as a shinobi. Sometimes, however, he just grew too tired of wearing the mask and things would slip through…especially, when he was in the presence of his Naru-chan.

So now he found himself clutching to Naruto like a life line as the reality of his sister's death hit him in the face, leaving him confused and feeling like he was alone. His sister had been one of the only things in his life he could depend on...the only person, save Kankuro, who had loved and supported him throughout his entire life, even if he hadn't acknowledged it then. His brother's death had been hard enough for the red headed Kazekage to bear, but his sister's was like an icy wake up call to the realities of life. The reality that everyone was destined to leave him eventually, one way or the other.

Naruto pulled him close, allowing him to rest on his shoulder, much as Naruto himself had just a few nights previously. The situation was ironically similar to the one on the first night at the tower, but this time, their roles were reversed. No words were spoken between them, for no words were truly needed. The two understood each other perfectly, and could tell with just one glance exactly what the other was thinking and feeling. As he sat, leaning into the warm embrace of his lover, just one tear slipped from the corner of his eye, cascading down his pale cheek. Just one tear was shed for the loss of many, just one tear to symbolise everything that he had lost or simply never had to begin with. It was just one, lone tear, but it was enough.

…**AR…**

**A/N: -rips hair out- Aaaaargh! Those interactions between Naruto and Gaara were so freaking….ugh! –rolls them into a little ball and stabs them with a kunai- I just couldn't get them right! Kiiiiill meeeeee…..**

**Let's see the crappiest chapter ever checklist shall we? Meaningless chapter title…CHECK! Ridiculous characters relations…CHECK! Stupid lengthy explanations that make no sense…CHECK! Corny and crappy ending….CHECK! Two days late and still way too short…CHECK! All in all, I think that was the worst chapter yet! Sorry guys…I tried! **


	12. Narrowing the Field

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Naruto/Gaara, Sakura/Shino, Sasuke/Temari, Shikamaru/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka (mentioned only). Pairings are set now.**

**A/N: Argh the line up took FOREVER to figure out! Jeez! Again, no reference to any material so I'm pretty much making things up here. The change in the line up is intentional, so please don't bite my head of about it. **

**Chapter Twelve: Narrowing the Field**

"As there is an unusually large number of Genin that have gotten through the second exam," Hayate let out another racking cough. "Before we can proceed to the final stage, a series of one on one preliminary matches will take place. Only the winner of each individual sudden death match will proceed to the final exams." Hayate began to cough harshly, before clearing his throat and straightening. "If you do not wish to participate in your current condition, now is the time to drop out. This is individual participation from here on, so you will not be bringing your team mates down by dropping out." A few of the assembled Genin looked uneasy, but only one ended up dropping out.

Kabuto Yakushi raised him hand in the air, smiling sheepishly at his team mates. "Sorry guys, but I'm too beat up from the forest of death. I withdraw." Hayate nodded and motioned for him to leave, before continuing.

"With no further ado, the names of the first two participants will appear on the board shortly." They waited tensely for a few moments, before the flickering names on the board finally settled.

_Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akado_

"Piece of cake." Sasuke muttered, glancing at Naruto who grinning encouragingly. The rest of the genin moved onto the observation platforms, leaving Sasuke and a tall man with black eyes and a mask covering his lower face. He, like Sasuke, wore the symbol of the leaf on his Hitai-ate.

Naruto watched as the match began, a smug smile on his face. Unlike last time, this time Sasuke could use his full potential without having to worry about Orochimaru's curse mark. It would indeed be a piece of cake. Sasuke activated his Sharingan immediately, as the two initiated hand to hand combat. Yoroi jumped forward and took the opportunity to use his chakra absorption technique, surprising Sasuke and causing Sasuke to jump away. They crept closer and Sasuke sunk into his taijutsu stance, his eyes glowing crimson with the Sharingan. Sasuke quickly gained the upper hand, this time being more careful about Yoroi's technique, using his Sharingan to predict his opponent's movements.

As Sasuke had not fought Lee in this timeline, Naruto had taken it upon himself to teach Sasuke the Lion's barrage that in the original dimension, Sasuke had invented himself. Thus once Yoroi was airborne, thanks to a well placed strike Sasuke had landed, Sasuke successfully used the Shadow of the Dancing Leaf technique to get behind his opponent. Once he was close enough, he initiated a kick to Yoroi's left side, before swimming a backhanded strike to Yoroi's face and punching him in the git to send him towards the ground. He finished with a spinning kick to the chest that landed just as they hit the ground, successfully knocking out his opponent.

"Winner: Uchiha Sasuke." Hayate announced after checking Yoroi's physical state. Naruto stood up with the other's and cheered for his friend's victory, grinning widely. Sasuke smirked and rejoined his team mates on the observation balcony.

"That was great Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed, smiling widely for her team mate's success. "Where'd you learn that move?"

Sasuke nodded over at Naruto, smiling slightly. "Naruto taught it to me. Thanks for that…" He muttered, scratching the back of his head slightly.

"No problem. She's right you know, that was a good fight." Naruto smiled as his team mates sat beside him. "Wonder who will be next…?" Naruto murmured, although he thought he had a pretty good idea. Sure enough, the next two names to appear on the board were just as he predicted.

_Zaku vs. Shino Aburame_

This match progressed much as it had the first time, with Shino and his bugs dominating the match. It finished with Shino plugging up the sound holes in Zaku's arm with his chakra consuming insects, causing the detrimental effects to Zaku's arm, and Shino winning the match. Hayate called the match, and Shino returned to the balcony as his friends and team mates cheered for his victory.

_Kankuro vs. Misumi Tsurugi_

This match proceeded almost exactly like in Naruto's original dimension. Kankuro dominated the field with the help of his puppet, Karasu. Kankuro tricked Misumi into attacking Karasu, and then knocks him out from behind while he is busy fighting Kurasu. Hayate announced the winner to be Kankuro, before Misumi was taken away on a stretcher and Kankuro returned to the stands.

Considering he similarities so far, Naruto thought it was safe to assume that Sakura would be fighting Ino next. This time, however, Naruto was counting on Sakura's victory. Through out his time in this dimension, he, as well as Kakashi, had been subtly improving both his team mates skills little by little, until they were at the level they were now…which was quite a bit higher then the first time around. By now, Sakura was much more adept at her own style of taijutsu, and had more then a few weak but effective jutsus at her disposal. This time, Naruto was confident enough in her abilities to say that she'd win. Finally, the names for the fourth match appeared on the board.

_Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka_

Sakura glanced worriedly at Naruto and Sasuke, who both smiled encouragingly at her. "Don't forget about her Mind Body switch technique; make sure you stay out of her direct path." Naruto whispered, before she nodded and made her way down the stairs.

The two kunoichi exchanged insults, before apparently deciding to take the match seriously and securing their hitai-ate's on their foreheads. Sakura jumped forward, immediately initiating taijutsu and momentarily surprising her opponent. She attacked with a ruthless skill, striking again and again, barely giving Ino enough time to block before launching another strike. Ino was slowly being backed towards the wall as Sakura continued the barrage of punches, kicks and hurled kunais. Eventually, Ino found herself backed against a wall with no escape in sight. Sakura finally back away from her, leaping off to the left as Ino began to get ready to use her mind body swap technique. Ino, seeing that she couldn't possibly aim well enough to hit Sakura as she darted from left to right with a surprising speed, gave up on the thought of using her prized technique. Shortly, they both found themselves low on chakra and stamina, until finally Ino's blocks began to slow down and Sakura managed to land a few well placed blows. Finally, Ino crumbled to the ground as Sakura kicked her solidly in the head, causing her to loose consciousness.

Hayate stepped over and bent down, checking Ino. Once it was apparent that Ino was unconscious, he called the match. "Winner: Haruno Sakura." He announced, as Ino was taken away on a stretcher. Sakura smiled weakly, before collapsing in a dead faint, and being carried off the field by a medical nin.

_Tenten vs. Temari_

The match was short, consisting mainly of Tenten throwing her projectiles, only to have them waved offcourse by Temari's giant fan. Temari played with the younger kunoichi for a few minutes, before ending the match with her Cutting Whirlwind technique.

_Shikamaru Nara vs. Kin Tsuchi_

Shikamaru sighed, muttering, "How troublesome," before wandering lazily down onto the field. Kin used a series of genjutsus induced by her bells to confused Shikamaru…or so it appeared. It turns out that Shikamaru was an incredibly good actor (Much better then our Naru-chan) as he pretended to be fooled by the jutsu. But eventually, he decided to end the match quickly.

"Kage mane no jutsu…" he muttered lazily, capturing the sound nin in her shadow. Just like the first time, the two were connected by the shadow, causing Kin to copy Shikamaru's movements. He ducked behind the kunai he had caused Kin to throw, and so did she, but in the process Kin smashed her head against the stone wall she had been backed up against. "Winner: Nara Shikamaru." Hayate announced, as Kin was taken off the field.

_Hinata Hyuuga vs. Kiba Inuzuka_

_Wait…what?_ Naruto exchanged a look with Shikamaru, who looked just as surprised as he did. Naruto raised an eyebrow curiously as the two team mates faced off against each other, Akamaru at Kiba's side. _This could be interesting…_

"I don't wish to fight you Kiba…" Hinata whispered, looking torn between emotions.

"I don't really wanna fight you either Hinata, but we gotta do what we gotta do, right?" Kiba flashed a slight grin as he got ready to fight.

Hinata put up a good fight, but in the end she was over whelmed by Kiba and Akamaru's special human beast clone technique. The Hyuuga gentle fist style was a prominently close quarter's move that wasn't much of a help to Hinata, as Kiba was attacking with brute strength using his special technique.

"Winner: Inuzuka Kiba." Hayate announced after Hinata was knocked unconscious by Kiba's attack. Naruto sighed slightly from the balcony, having thought Hinata may have stood a chance against Kiba. Apparently she wasn't as motivated to fight Kiba as she had been to fight her cousin, Neji.

_Rock Lee vs. Neji Hyuuga_

Naruto frowned as yet another surprising match was called. He glanced worriedly at Shikamaru, but this time Shika did not appear to be particularly fazed by it, so he merely shrugged and awaited the commencement of the match. Lee wasted no time in taking off his weights, just as Neji activated his Byakugan.

Lee dashed around reaching speeds that made many of the spectators gasp in surprise. Amazingly, despite his Byakugan, Neji just couldn't land a hit; Lee's speeds were just too great. The hits that Neji _did_ manage to land had little to no effect on the green spandex wearing teen, for he had no need for his chakra and it therefore didn't matter if his chakra points were blocked. Neji soon realised that he was going to have to think of an alternate course f action, and soon.

Neji began to initiate his Trigram: Sixty-four palms technique, but Lee managed to get out of the way, causing Neji to hit nothing and merely make a large crater in the ground. With little chakra left, Neji found himself being struck several times by his green rival. Lee ended up opening several of his chakra gates, finally ending the match with a complicated series of kicks, the last one hitting Neji behind the neck and knocking him unconscious.

The silence that followed this surprising victory was almost deafening, until finally Naruto began to cheer, causing his friends to do the same. Hayate blinked a few times, not having expected this result, before calling the match. "Winner: Rock Lee."

"Well that was…interesting…" Naruto muttered, staring wide eyed as Lee hugged his sensei with tears streaming down his face.  
"Lee!" Gai exclaimed, tears of happiness streaming from his own eyes.

"Gai-sensei!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"**LEE!"**

"**GAI-SENSEI! IT IS ONLY WITH YOUR SUPERIOR TEACHINGS THAT I HAVE MANAGED TO COME THIS FAR!"**

And so it continued. A good ten minutes later, an exuberant Lee returned to the observation balcony, his similarly exuberant sensei not far behind.

Naruto shared a shocked glance with Shikamaru, before they both smiled slightly. While the result had been unexpected, it was more favourable then last time's outcome, that was for sure.

_Choji Akimichi vs. Dosu _

The second last battle was barely a battle at all, as Choji was being beaten around by Dosu. This left Naruto with no possibilities, except fighting Gaara. He glanced at Gaara only to find the red head already staring at him. Their eyes met and Naruto motioned for Gaara to follow him, before walking down the corridor out of ear shot to any of the other genin, Gaara joined him a few minutes later.

"I have to fight you." Naruto stated, raisin an eyebrow at Gaara.

Gaara sighed, nodding. "Yes. What will the out come be?"

Naruto thought for a moment, before shrugging. "I'm not sure. Is there any way to get both of us through to the finals?"

Gaara considered this for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Yes. I believe we could do that if we both hand over victory to the other. Not both forfeit, because that would ensure that we both loose, but if we both say, at the same time, that the other wins…perhaps they would let us both into the preliminaries. Even if they do not, is it vital that we both enter the preliminaries?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not really, as long as we are there. I suppose it wouldn't matter if we both end up not being allowed to continue, so long as we at least watch the final exams. In fact, it may work in our favour if we are not participating."

Gaara nodded, agreeing with the blonde. "Nevertheless, we shall try to get the both of us entered in the final exams." Naruto nodded in agreement and the two separated.

Naruto returned in time to see Choji being thoroughly beaten by Dosu. A few moments later, the match was called, and Dosu returned to the observation balcony. Finally, the last two names appeared up on the screen.

_Naruto Uzumaki vs. Gaara_

Naruto stood up, smirking slightly. He walked beside Gaara and the two entered the field together. They stood and faced each other, looking like they were about to attack, before stopping and standing up straight. They used their mental link to get their words perfectly in time, so that they would either both pass or both fail, altering their words only slightly.

"I give victory to Gaara." Naruto spoke at the exact time that Gaara said,

"I give victory to Naruto." The shocked silence that followed was to be expected, especially of Gaara's and Naruto's team mates.

Hayate raised an eyebrow, coughing slightly as he looked between the two, before nodding. "Since both participants have forfeited-"

"You misunderstand us." Naruto interrupted, staring defiantly into Hayate's eyes. "We do not forfeit. I grant Gaara victory; therefore he must proceed to the next round."

"And I grant the same for Naruto." Gaara added, his emotionless mask in place.

Hayate frowned before sighing and nodding. "Therefore," he continued, "both participants proceed to the next round. This concludes the preliminary exams."

…AR…

"What the hell Gaara!" Kankuro exclaimed as the three of them met up with their sensei after they had been released from the tower. "What the hell was that?!"

"You would do well," Gaara hissed, narrowing his eyes at his brother. "To refrain from addressing me so…just remember, I haven't killed in a long time." Gaara's eyes flashed dangerously, causing Kankuro to back off hesitantly.

"I'm sorry Gaara...but what was that back there?" He asked, making his tone as weak and unthreatening as possible.

Gaara glanced at Kankuro disinterestedly, before answering. "Do you remember the conversation we had while travelling here?" Kankuro nodded slightly. "This is me putting the first stage of the plan into effect. Do not cross me again Kankuro, if you value your life."

…AR…

"Well, that was…interesting." Kakashi stated as the three of them gathered in Sakura's hospital wing. "Effective too. This way, you passed the preliminaries without having to exert yourself and without sustaining any injuries. How on earth did you get Gaara to agree?" Naruto smirked slightly, leaning back in the plastic chair he was occupying.

"It was just a matter of…leverage." He lied, crossing his fingers behind his back.

"Leverage?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Call it blackmail, if you will. As you," he glanced at Sasuke. "Already know, Gaara and I have been, well…not _friends_, but we've known each other for a few years since an unintentional meeting in which we realised our certain similarities in regards to the things we have sealed inside of us. Turns out Shukaku, that's his demon, is actually on pretty good terms with Kyuubi you see. Anyway, back to the leverage…Let's just say I know something about him that he would rather I didn't make public knowledge. It also helps that he owes me a favour."

Sakura blinked slightly at his story, shifting around a little on the hospital bed that she lay on. "How did you two meet in the first place?"

"That, as it happens, is part of the information that I am now not allowed to share, thanks to my deal with Gaara. Sorry." Naruto said, waving off the question dismissively.

"Alright then…" Kakashi muttered. "Well now onto the problem of training. I've already taught Sasuke the Chidori, and you two learnt techniques from Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-hime, so there isn't really all that much I can teach you during the month you have left to prepare. I'm thinking I will simply give you all the entire month as private training time, and I'll give you some tips if need be. I assume you all know already who your first opponent will be?" They all nodded.

"I'm against Kiba, Sasuke is against Dosu and Sakura's fighting Lee." Naruto offered.

"Well that's rather troublesome…Sakura, you are going to have to put a hell of a lot of hard work in if you hope to defeat Lee-"

Kakashi was interrupted by Sakura shaking her head. "No sensei, I know that I can't hope to defeat Lee. I will forfeit that match; I have no desire to end up unconscious unless it is absolutely necessary."

Kakashi peered at her for a few moments, before nodding. "Well, it is your decision, although perhaps that would be wise. After all, Lee has been training as a taijutsu specialist for years. A month will surely not be enough to catch you up to his standards. Naruto, you can probably defeat Kiba easily from what I saw today and from what I know of your abilities, the same with you Sasuke." He glanced at Sasuke. "I expect you watched all of the matches with your Sharingan?" Sasuke nodded. "Then you will be informing Naruto of everything you noticed about the ones participating in the final exams. I expect you both to study their styles thoroughly and come up with strategies to beat them. Does that sound alright to the two of you?" Sasuke and Naruto nodded. "Good. I'm proud of all three of you to make it this far. Well done." The three genin smiled at their sensei. "Of course," he added, "it was all because of my excellent teaching."

Naruto rolled his eyes, slapping his sensei on the shoulder lightly. "Yeah, yeah, you just keep on thinking that Sensei…"

"Well who else could it have been?" Kakashi asked indignantly.

"Me of course!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "'Cause I'm gonna be Hokage someday! I'll be the best Hokage Konoha has ever seen, believe it!"

…**AR…**

**A/N: I know, I know, it was boring…but necessary. Please don't bite my head off for all the changes I made….-puppy dog eyes- I just thought it would work better with my story this way. I'm sorry…**


	13. Hide and Seek

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Naruto/Gaara, Sakura/Shino, Sasuke/Temari, Shikamaru/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka (mentioned only). Pairings are set now.**

**Chapter Thirteen: Hide and Seek**

Naruto sighed loudly from his position underneath a tree, staring pointedly at Shikamaru, who lay nearby. Shikamaru ignored him, merely continuing to watch the slow progression of the clouds. Naruto was incredibly bored, since they hadn't done much of anything in the last few days. They had a whole month off to train…except Naruto didn't really need or want to train. He, Shikamaru, Gaara and Sasuke (the future one) had taken to lying about under the trees all day…which suited Shikamaru, Gaara and Sasuke perfectly, but enough was enough for Naruto.

Naruto sighed again before turning to look at Gaara, who was also ignoring his attempts to hint at his boredom. Finally he turned to Sasuke, who rolled his eyes and glanced over at his friend.

"What dobe?" He asked, glaring at the blonde from his spot in the tree that Naruto lay under.

The other two present sighed, awaiting the expected explosion. Sure, Naruto had matured and changed over the years…but no one could change _that_ much. Sure enough, they weren't disappointed. "I'm boooooored!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Let's do something. Can we do something? _Pleeeaaaase_….?"

Shikamaru turned to look at the blonde, who had a pleading expression on his face. "Tch. If you can be bothered to think of something…then I don't see why not." He muttered, before returning his gaze to the sky. Naruto thought for a few moments, before grinning widely.

"I know! We'll play hide and seek!" He exclaimed, looking for all the world as if Christmas had come early.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the energetic adult-that-looked-like-a-teenager. "What are you, five?" He scoffed, glaring slightly at Naruto. Naruto glared heatedly back at Sasuke before suddenly hurling a kunai at the black haired teen, who was lying balanced on a branch. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw the kunai just in time, before dodging to the side and losing his balance, resulting in his unexpected landing on the grass below.

"Ya! What the hell was that for!" Sasuke exclaimed as he picked himself up from the ground.

"For making fun of me. Duh." Naruto answered, rolling his eyes. "Now, back to hide and seek. We'll get everyone to play…the whole rookie nine and Lee's team too. Except, it won't be just an ordinary game…more like ninja hide and seek. So it's kinda like training, but funner."

"Idiot, funner is not a word." Sasuke muttered, still glaring darkly at the blonde, who stuck his tongue out at Sasuke's comment.

"Whatever. Anyway, so everyone agree?" Naruto asked, his eyes shining like lanterns.

"I don't particularly want to play…" Gaara muttered, his emotionless mask in place.

"Tch. Sounds too troublesome." Shikamaru murmured, his gaze remaining on the sky.

"I'm obviously not going to play this little game if the other Sasuke is playing." Sasuke said, rolling his eyes as his friend's idiotism **(A/N: Idiotism is a WORD, I checked! Teehee)**.

"Fine. Sasuke doesn't have to play. But the rest of you…I am ordering you as your Hokage to play this game- um, training exercise, that is." Naruto said with a triumphant smirk.

"You're not Hokage anymore, Naruto." Sasuke pointed out with an equally triumphant smirk.

"That's where you're wrong!" Naruto exclaimed. "Technically, as it states on page four hundred and ninety-six, paragraph four, line three of the _Hokage's Handbook_, A Hokage remains Hokage until he or she is either claimed by death or has relinquished his or her title as Hokage and named his or her successor. Since I did neither, then I am technically still the rightful Hokage of _our_ Konohagakure, which, need I remind you, is the village that the three of you are _still_ citizens and ninjas of, despite your current location. _Therefore_, I still retain all power I held as Hokage and you three mere inferior ninjas, _must_ obey my orders."

"Yes Hokage-sama…" Sasuke muttered, significantly cowed by Naruto's statement of authority, and suddenly aware that he had indeed been disobeying the Hokage.

"Hai Hokage-sama, we will participate in this training exercise." Shikamaru sighed, before standing and bowing with the proper amount of respect to be given to a Hokage. Gaara merely nodded his agreement.

"Good." Naruto said with a nod. "Now Shika, you can go get the rest of your team and Hinata, Shino and Kiba. Gaara, you get the rest of your team- _yes, they are playing too!_ And then go help Shikamaru with Hinata's team. I'll get my team and Neji's and then meet you back here. If anyone refuses, just kidnap them or something. If anyone questions why we are working with Gaara's team, tell them me and Gaara are good friends and they had better respect our friendships or Gaara will kill them. Got it?" Shikamaru and Gaara nodded. "Good. Sasuke, you can come with me as a bird. Off you go!" Shikamaru and Gaara ran off back in the direction of Konoha. Naruto stopped to pick up Takeshi before following, Sasuke perched on his shoulder as a raven.

…AR…

"Hey guys." Shikamaru greeted as he found Ino and Choji sparring at one of the training grounds. "We have a new training exercise to complete. Come on." The two followed their unofficial leader without complaint, and questioned him as they headed over to a restaurant where Shikamaru thought Hinata's team might be.

"What's this exercise Shika?" Ino asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hide and Seek." Shikamaru answered simply as they entered the diner. He ignored their confused glances as he quickly spotted the three he was looking for, and headed over to the booth that they were sitting at.

"Hey Kiba, Hinata, Shino." He muttered. The three blinked at his unusual forward-ness. "So we're gonna go play Hide and Seek as a training exercise. Wanna come?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not really…?" Kiba answered, looking like he was restraining from laughing. "I mean Hide and Seek? Honestly Shikamaru, I think you should stop hanging out with Naruto…he's beginning to have a negative effect on your maturity."

"I thought you might say that." Shikamaru sighed, glancing at his watch. "Well the persuasion will be here any minute."

…AR…

"Temari, Kankuro." Gaara nodded at his siblings. "We're doing a training exercise. Come." He turned and walked out, his siblings following obediently behind.

"What is this training exercise Gaara?" Temari asked, slightly fearfully.

"Hide and Seek with the rookie nine." Gaara muttered, scowling slightly.

Temari and Kankuro glanced at each other with raised eyebrows, wondering if their brother had finally cracked. "And why are we doing that?"

Gaara shrugged as the restaurant where he could feel Shika's chakra signature residing came into view. "Naruto asked me to, so we are."

…AR…

"Ah, here they are now." Shikamaru muttered, glancing up as the Sand siblings entered the restaurant.

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "The sand freaks?" He asked dubiously.

"They're not cooperating?" Gaara asked, walking up to Shikamaru, who shook his head with a sigh. "That's why I'm here. Temari, Kankuro, kidnap them." He ordered and the four of them quickly jumped and grabbed the three (by this point) terrified genins. Within minutes they had managed to tie up and gag the three genin, before walking out, each with one of them in their arms, except for Gaara. They wandered back to the tree and awaited Naruto.

…AR…

"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto called, running over to the black haired teen. "Come with me!"

Sasuke paused, dropping the kunai he held and raised an eyebrow. "I'm _training._ I'll come find you when I'm finished." He muttered, before picking up the kunai and resuming his attack on the straw dummy

"No, come now!" He whined, his eyes pleading with his friend to agree. "We're doing a new training exercise."

"Who's we?" Sasuke asked, as he sighed and turned away from the dummy to face the blonde.

"Um…Me, you, Sakura, team eight, team ten, Lee's team and Gaara's team." Naruto listed, mentally ticking them off as he replied.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Gaara's team? Gaara as in Subaku no Gaara?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "What _other_ Gaara's do we know? Anyway, it'll be fun! Now let's go, the others are waiting and we still have to go pick up Lee's team."

Sasuke sighed and sheathed his kunai. "Knowing you, it will be something utterly childish." He muttered, eyeing the immature blonde wearily.

"Aw, don't be so mean Sasuke! I thought we broke you of that habit! Besides, it's not childish, it's a challenging ninja training exercise." Naruto retorted.

They walked in silence for a few moments, heading to Sakura's house to 'recruit' her. "So, what is this 'training exercise anyway?" Sasuke asked as Sakura's house came into sight.

Naruto grinned before answering. "Hide and Seek!" He exclaimed excitedly. Sasuke groaned, rolling his eyes.

…AR…

About fifteen minutes later, Naruto returned with a the rest of team seven and Lee's team. After finding Lee's team training with their sensei, Maito Gai, Naruto had asked them to join them for their training exercise, and Gai had been simply delighted. Gai had then proceeded to _order_ his team to participate in the game. They found Shikamaru and his team waiting patiently under the tree, with team eight tied up and gagged behind them. Gaara's team stood slightly to the side, looking a little miffed.

"You guys…" Naruto groaned. "I didn't mean for you to _literally_ kidnap them!" He exclaimed upon seeing the bound forms of team eight.

"Sorry guys," he muttered as he quickly untied the annoyed genins.

"What the hell!" Kiba exclaimed as soon as his gag had been removed. "What is with you crazy people!" Akamaru barked his agreement from his position on Kiba's head.

"Shut up Kiba and let me explain the rules." Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes. "Okay, so one team is 'it', and the other three teams have to hide anywhere they like, so long as they remain within the walls of Konoha. If you get caught by someone on the 'it' team, then you become 'it' too-" He shot Gaara a look as the red head was about to interrupt. "_No_, you _can't_ just kill _or_ injure them, okay? Infact, to ensure that something…unexpected doesn't happen, Gaara's team will be up first. So if you catch someone, you give them one of _these_," Naruto held up a bundle of red sashes. "So we know who's been tagged. Now as this is _ninja_ hide and seek, you can use jutsus and stuff, but you can't hurt each other. Infact, this is a pretty much non contact game, except for tagging each other. The game goes for three hours, then the ones left un-caught are the winners. Got it?" After receiving varied forms of agreement from almost everyone…except for the still angry looking Kiba and the ever emotionless Shino…he nodded. "Good. Gaara's team, you're up. Everyone else, we have fifteen minutes to hide. GO!"

…AR…

"Naruto?!"

"Eh...Ohayo Hokage-sama! Sumimasen! Gomen Hokage-sama! Henge no jutsu!" And Naruto was gone…in his place, was a pot plant identical to the one on the other side of the room.

"Eh?" Sarutobi muttered, blinking slightly. A few seconds later there was a loud crash, before the door swung open to admit a flustered looking Subaku no Gaara.

"Did you see Naruto Uzumaki?" Gaara ordered, glaring at the Hokage. Just then the ANBU stationed outside the door, rushed into the room. "Choto Mate! Who are you and what are you doing here!" The one with the mask of the tiger ordered.

Gaara ignored him, turning back to the Hokage. "Well? Have you seen him?" Sarutobi mutely shook his head, causing the red head to sigh.

"Kuso! Arigato Hokage-sama…" He muttered, before leaping out the open window.

Sarutobi shook his head, motioning for the ANBU guards to leave while wondering why ninjas just couldn't take the door. He suddenly remembered about Naruto and turned to face the pot plant, which promptly turned back into an orange clad Naruto.

Naruto grinned at him before jumping out of the window, yelling behind him, "Arigato ojii-san!"

…AR…

"Oh little gi-irl…I know you're in here…" Temari muttered, lifting up her fan. She suddenly darted around at the slight sound of footsteps, hurling a kunai which caught the sleeve of its target, thudding into the wall behind and locking the pink haired kunoichi in place…except, that it wasn't the pink haired girl.

"Kuso! Where'd the pink haired bitch go, eh old man?" She asked, glaring at the old weirdo she had captured who wore strange clothes and had really long grey hair.

"Do you know who I am!" The man exclaimed. "I am the great, legendary toad hermit...The Great _Jiraiya!_ I am one of the legendary Sannin and author of several best selling novels!"

"Whatever old man, but did you see a pink haired girl come through here?"

"Hm? Oh, she went that way." Jiraiya muttered, pointing to the left.

"Arigato." Temari muttered as she turned and ran out of the shop she had chased the pink haired girl into.

…AR…

"Tch. This is all too troublesome." Shikamaru muttered as he ran down an alley, pursued by the slightly insane brother of Gaara, Kankuro.

Kankuro turned the corner, only to see…nothing. "Where'd he go?" Kankuro asked, blinking stupidly. There was nothing left in the alley but shadows.

…AR…

"Got you! I'll admit you gave a good chase, but now you're on my side!" Temari exclaimed as she pulled out one of the sashes and handed it to a disappointed look Sakura.

"Kuso!" The pink haired girl cursed, before putting on the sash and rejoining the game as one of the 'it' team.

…AR…

"Kakashi-sensei!" A breathless Sakura ran up to her sensei, who was eating at Ichiraku's with Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, have you seen Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Lee, Tenten, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Shino, Kiba or Hinata?" She asked hurriedly, her foot tapping with impatience.

"Uh, let me see…" The Jounin muttered, glancing at his Chuunin companion. "Naruto was here about three minutes ago, being chased down the street by that red head sand guy…Kiba and Akamaru ran through here earlier, I saw Hinata down the street…Haven't seen the others." Sakura turned away, just as Kakashi added, "Oh! And Sasuke's hiding behind the counter."

"Kuso!" Came the muffled voice as Sasuke jumped out from his hiding place, tearing down the street with Sakura not far behind him. Iruka shook his head, mumbling something about the amount of swearing that kids these days were partial to.

…AR…

"Got you Tenten." Neji muttered, holding out a red sash. Tenten sighed as she removed her henge of an old lady.

"How'd you know it was me?" She pouted, taking the sash and putting it on. "And how come you're up anyway?"

"I knew it was you, because of the Byakugan." Neji muttered. "And I'm up, because I let that red head tag me, because I was sick of running around hiding. It's easier being up."

"So who's up now?" Tenten asked, as they sped along the rooftops.

"Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Sakura, Ino, Choji, me and you. Only Sasuke, Naruto, Shino, Lee, Hinata, Kiba and Shikamaru are left."

…AR…

"He's found me again. What a drag…" Shikamaru muttered from his spot in the grass. He was currently lying down and watching the clouds, finding the game…or training exercise to be far too much trouble then it was worth. "Oh just tag me already, Kankuro." He muttered, looking up at the make up wearing sand nin.

"Gladly." Kankuro muttered, handing Shikamaru a sash.

…AR…

"Got you! Sakura exclaimed, grabbing Hinata's arm. Her eyes then fell on the red sash that the other girl was wearing. "Oh man, you're already tagged?"

The timid girl nodded. "Temari-san…s-she caught me before." She whispered.

Sakura sighed, wiping the sweat off her brow. "Damn it, I've been up for an hour and a half and I haven't caught _anyone_ yet!"

…AR…

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, running towards the crouched teen. "Have you seen Gaara?" Sasuke shook his head, causing Naruto to sigh in relief. "Good. He's been trailing me like a bloody hound dog! I swear, this game has gone on for two and a half hours already and he has been on my tail the _whole_ time!"

"Do you know who else is up?" Sasuke asked, peering around the corner of the alley they were hiding in.

Naruto scratched his head. "Last I heard, it was the sand team, all of team ten, Hinata, Neji, Kiba, Sakura and Tenten."

Sasuke sighed. "That only leaves me, you, Shino and Lee against all of them."

Naruto nodded. "I think we should try and stay out of sight until Lee and Shino have been caught…the game only has half an hour to go. If we can find a really good hiding place and just hope they don't find us…"

"Got anywhere in mind?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We could go up to the Hokage's office; Gaara won't be expecting me to go back."

Sasuke nodded and considered the idea. "That's a fair way away from here though…with that many people up, we'll be sure to be caught on the way."

"True." Naruto sighed. "We could just henge as rocks or something and wait here?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Neji's got his Byakugan and I'm positive Gaara could tell by our chakra signatures."

"Kuso!" Naruto cursed. "We just have to hold out for half an hour…shouldn't be _that _hard…right?"

…AR…

_Ten minutes to go…_

"I can see them, they're about two hundred yards ahead, forty yards to the left." Neji stated, deactivating his Byakugan. "Idiots, they should have split up."

"Well now that we've caught Lee and Shino, they're the only ones left. All of us against those two? It'll be a piece of cake!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Let's go find the others, it will be easier if we gang up on them."

…AR…

_Seven minutes to go…_

"They're coming!" Naruto hissed. "Quick, send shadow clones out! Hundreds of them!" Naruto ordered.

"Dobe! I can only do a few shadow clones!" Sasuke hissed, glaring at the blonde.

"Well that's okay, I can do enough for both of us, I'll just henge some of them as you." Naruto muttered, before lifting up his hands. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" He exclaimed, and about two hundred Naruto's poofed into existence. "Henge no jutsu!" With his words, half of them became Sasuke clones. "Okay guys, go!"

…AR…

_Four minutes to go…_

"Shit! Shadow clones!" Temari muttered, as a large number of Naruto's and Sasuke's split off in different directions. "How are we going to find the real one?"

"I can tell with the Byakugan." Neji stated, activating his bloodline limit.

"I can also tell by their chakra signature. All the Naruto's and Sasuke's present and clones." Gaara muttered, glancing around as he tried to determine the location of the real ones.

_Two minutes to go…_

"There!" Neji hissed, pointing to a group of clones. "That one's the real Sasuke!"

"And that's Naruto!" Gaara added, pointing to a group to the left of the real ones.

Shikamaru smirked, before jumping down near the unsuspecting blonde.

…AR…

_One minute to go…_

"Got you!" Kiba exclaimed, as Neji tapped the black haired teen on the back.

"Kuso!" Sasuke exclaimed, before they all turned to see Shikamaru jumping for Naruto.

_Ten seconds to go…_

"Crap!" Naruto jumped to the right, only to find Shikamaru directly behind him. Just as the stop watch began to beep, Shikamaru jabbed Naruto on the shoulder.

"HA!" Shikamaru exclaimed, doing a little victory dance. "I WIN! Take _that _Uzumaki! I'm WINNING! Naruto: 284, Shika: 285!"

"Baka!" Naruto exclaimed. "It's the other way around! Remember? _I_ won the horse back race, no matter how much you try and cheat by saying that yours was slower because it was black! Besides, I have the Forest of Death too! You can't fool me Nara!"

"He's right you know," Gaara added. "And the score is Shika: 284 and Naruto: 286 if you count the Hokage monument decoration challenge."

Shikamaru glared at the red head. "Fine! I can see when I'm out numbered…but just you wait Uzumaki, you will _not_ be beating me when I fight you in the final exams, I _guarantee it!_"

Naruto merely rolled his eyes. "Keep on dreaming Nara…the day you beat me in one on one combat is the day Sasuke marries Sakura!"

The two continued their banter for many minutes, leaving the majority of their companions slightly lost and largely confused.

"…What the hell?" Kiba muttered, before shaking his head. "Whatever, I don't even care."

"I agree, it's too complicated." Sasuke muttered. "Besides, I have to get back to my real training."

"You suck Nara!"

"I hate you too Uzumaki!"

"Shut up losers!"

"Hey! Who you calling a loser?"

…_And so it continues_. Sasuke thought with a sigh, before turning and walking away. It was all so complicated…but Sasuke didn't even know the half of it.

**A/N: Ya! I'm so sorry for not updating for so long! It was a whole three days! Sorry, I just wasn't in the mood last night…So I made it a little longer to make up for my lateness. –sigh- that was really just a filler chapter, building on some relationships, yadda yadda yadda. Anyway, hopefully next chapter will be more eventful. **

**Word count: 3, 481 words NOT INCLUDING the bold parts. That's the longest yet I think, so y'all better congratulate me!**


	14. Underestimation equals Defeat

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Naruto/Gaara, Sakura/Shino, Sasuke/Temari, Shikamaru/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka (mentioned only). Pairings are set now.**

**Summary: Not many chapters to go now…there may only be two or three chapters remaining. Don't worry though, I've already planned and started writing the sequel.**

**Chapter Fourteen: Underestimation equals Defeat**

"The first match," Genma announced as he chewed on his needle, "Will be Sakura Haruno of Leaf versus Rock Lee of Leaf." Sakura exchanged an uneasy glance between herself and her two team mates, who stood either side of her, before stepping forward. She glanced apologetically at Lee, who looked eager for a fight, before raising her hand slightly.

"Excuse me, Genma-san? I forfeit." She announced, her confident voice ringing through the arena. Genma raised an eyebrow at her before nodding.

"Alright then, victory goes to Rock Lee. Rock lee proceeds to the next round. The second match will be Shikamaru Nara of Leaf versus Shino Aburame of Leaf."

"Remember," Naruto whispered to Shikamaru before he could step forward. "Get him fast before he can use his bugs, and knock him out quick. Back him up against the wall and do what you did to Kin the first time." He hissed, before releasing Shikamaru's arm. Shikamaru nodded before stepping forward next to Shino. The other nine competitors were then ordered to leave the arena, as the fight began.

Shikamaru took Naruto's words to heart and immediately threw out his shadows, leaving no room for the quiet boy to escape. Shino looked slightly annoyed at Shikamaru's unexpected speed, after all Shikamaru had shown nothing of his skills so far in this dimension. Quite honestly, had Shikamaru not been in actuality twenty-two years old and therefore had larger chakra reserves and a wider shadow range, Shikamaru felt sure that Shino would easily be able to beat him. As the case was thought, Shikamaru found himself winning the match that had barely even started. Shikamaru wasted no time in drawing his kunai, forcing Shino to do the same. Shino hadn't had a chance to send out his bugs yet, but Shikamaru was positive that they would show up soon anyway, causing the need for speed.

He ran speedily backwards for about twenty paces, causing Shino to be right up against the back wall of the arena. He too was quite close to the opposite wall, but the way he had positioned them when he captured Shino in his shadow meant that he was a good inch and a half further off the wall then Shino was. Shikamaru could only hope that an inch and a half would be enough. Shikamaru lifted his kunai to eye level, aiming at Shino. He watched calmly as Shino mirrored his movements, before releasing his kunai.

His kunai flew straight and true, heading directly for the other shinobi's head. He watched as Shino's kunai sped towards his own kunai, feeling a rush of exhilaration as he prepared to dodge at the very last split second. Time seemed to slow down as he heard the gasp of the crowd as it appeared as if he wasn't going to move, feeling impressed as he realised that the emotionless mask of the quiet teen in front of him was still in place, despite how close he was to death. Just like he planned, Shikamaru threw his head back at the very last possible moment, feeling the rush of unsettled air as the kunai passed a quarter of an inch over his head. He heard the loud clink of the metal as it hit the stone wall, his eyes fixed on his opponent.

His plan had worked perfectly; Shino's head had flung back at the exact moment Shikamaru's had, only Shino was just that little bit closer to the opposite wall. Shikamaru smirked with satisfaction as he heard the thunk as Shino's head hit the wall, closely followed by the sound of the metal hitting the stone as the kunai bounced off harmlessly, chipping a few stones in the process. Shino's body crumpled as Shikamaru released him from the jutsu, falling to the ground as he succumbed to unconsciousness.

Shikamaru picked up Shino's kunai, before walking over to Shino's slumped form and checking his pulse. Finding it easily, he smiled slightly in relief before tucking the other boy's kunai into his weapon pouch. He picked up his own kunai, turning to the crowd who sat in a sort of stunned silence. He frowned slightly confused for a moment, before glancing to the large timer that showed the time it took for them to off each other. _Oh…that's why._ He thought as he looked at the time, which had been frozen the moment Shino had been knocked out.

_00:00:05:53_

"That was _awesome_ Shika!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed form he stands, wiping the shocked look from his face. "You beat him in five and a half seconds!"

Shikamaru shrugged a she exited the arena. "Well you told me to be quick…" He muttered, scowling slightly as the crowd began to clap. "If I hadn't been fast, he would have kicked my ass." Shikamaru admitted as he joined his friends and team mates in the stands.

"Jeez Shika, I didn't know a lazy bum like you could _move_ so _fast!_" Ino exclaimed a she hurried over to congratulate her team mate. Choji blinked at Shikamaru for a moment, before grinning and coming over to congratulate him. Naruto walked over to his friend and leant in, whispering so only he could here.

"Alright Shika, I think the scores are now Shika: 285 Naruto: 286, 'cause my fastest one on one match was a whole six seconds. Congratulations, you're catching up." He muttered, smirking slightly. Shikamaru's extremely loud exclamation of victory was cut off as Genma began to announce the next match.

"The next match is Subaku no Temari of Sand versus Subaku no Kankuro of Sand." The crowd began to mutter disruptively however, when only Temari entered the arena. Kankuro leant over the balcony, a careless look in his eyes.

"I can not be bothered trying to beat my sister. I forfeit." Genma looked slightly annoyed at this, seeing as it was the second forfeit and there had only been three matches.

"Very well…" He muttered. "The match goes to Subaku no Temari, as Subaku no Kankuro has forfeited. Moving on to the next match, Sasuke Uchiha of Leaf versus Dosu of Sound." He announced, as the Sand siblings moved back to the stands. The crowd began to murmur at this, seeming to become excited at the prospect of seeing the famous Uchiha go one on one with a shinobi of Sound.

Sasuke stood up silently and joined Dosu in the arena. The two began glaring heatedly at each other as the match commenced.

Sasuke sunk into a crouch and quickly activated his Sharingan, as Dosu prepared to use his Vibrating Sound Drill technique. Sasuke smirked and raised his hands.

"Time to try out that jutsu Naruto taught me…" He muttered, before quickly flying through some hand seals. "Oto Shouheki!" He exclaimed. Finally, he slammed his hand down on the ground in front of him, causing a shimmering white barrier to form from that point on the ground. The barrier spread out around Sasuke, before sealing together at the top and becoming a dome around him.

Dosu's sound waves were released, whirling through the air and slamming into the barrier soundlessly. The barrier didn't falter, merely seeming to absorb the sound waves and dispel them harmlessly.

From within the Sound barrier, Sasuke quickly ran through a list of possible actions he could take. He finally came to the conclusion that he could wait out the fight within his sound barrier, and hope Dosu ran out of chakra before him. The sound barrier was a very interesting technique that used a decent chunk of chakra to perform, but very little chakra to maintain. After watching Dosu's fight in the preliminaries with the Sharingan, Sasuke knew that Dosu's sound technique used a lot of chakra to perform again and again. If he played his cards right, Sasuke was fairly sure he could outlast the sound shinobi, so long as Dosu kept trying to break through his sound barrier.

Just as he predicted, Dosu did not just give up after finding that his jutsu was not working. He continued to send wave after wave at the barrier, hoping to weaken it gradually. Fortunately, the jutsu that Naruto had taught Sasuke was perfect for countering Dosu's attack, because it didn't repel the sound waves, it merely absorbed them. Therefore instead of just bouncing them off, the barrier was actually using the sound waves to strengthen itself.

Dosu finally stopped and seemed to be rethinking his course of action, as the barrier wasn't weakening in the slightest. Little did he know, that by attacking as he had, he had made it much easier for Sasuke to maintain the jutsu, as the jutsu was sapping the chakra from the sound waves.

Dosu stood back, glaring at the shimmering dome that surrounded his opponent. He had apparently decided to wait for Sasuke to run out of chakra and become unable to maintain the jutsu. Sasuke sighed from inside his barrier; he had thought he nearly had it! Sasuke deciding that he would lull Dosu into thinking he wasn't going to lower the jutsu, and let him get comfortable. The moment the sound ninja's guard dropped, Sasuke would dispel the jutsu and attack as fast as he possibly could, and hope that Dosu was too slow to use his technique.

A few minutes later, Sasuke's opportunity arrived. Dosu sighed, seemingly tired of waiting for Sasuke. He glanced up at the audience, his attention momentarily shifting from one hundred percent focus, to about eighty-five percent. Sasuke knew a chance when he saw one, and so he immediately dropped the jutsu and lunged for the sound ninja, drawing his kunai in the process. Dosu flicked his head around, preparing to use his jutsu…only to feel the cold metal of a kunai at his throat.

"Use that jutsu and you'll find your head permanently removed from your body." Sasuke hissed as he pressed the kunai into the skin, drawing a little blood for emphasis. It seemed that Dosu knew when to surrender, as he raised his arms slightly.

"I surrender." He muttered coolly, anger burning defiantly in his eyes. Sasuke smirked and sheathed his kunai, smiling slightly in satisfaction as Genma called the match.

He mentally thanked his blonde team mate for teaching him Oto Shouheki, or 'Sound Barrier', and made a note to do it aloud later. He strode back up the steps and rejoined his friends, all of which were quick to congratulate him on his effective, if a little slow compared to Shikamaru's match, victory.

"The next match will be Naruto Uzumaki of Leaf, versus Kiba Inuzuka of Leaf." Genma announced, still chewing on his ever present needle.

"Too easy." Naruto muttered as he followed Dog-boy down to the arena. Akamaru was resting on Kiba's head, as always.

"Did Dog-boy bring his itty bitty Maru-chan out to play?" Naruto taunted with a smirk as they faced each other. _No point in rushing_, Naruto figured, _may as well relax and enjoy myself…I'll beat Shika's record another time. Infact, I think the maximum impact would be breaking it while fighting Shika himself! Yessss I'll do that._ Naruto then made a mental note, reminding himself to do just that, before turning back to Kiba.

Kiba scoffed, glaring at Naruto. "Me'n Akamaru are gonna bring you down _dead last!_"

"Do you have a pen?" Naruto asked innocently, smiling slightly at Kiba.

"No!" Kiba snapped, looking suspicious. "Why…?

"Pity." Naruto muttered, sarcasm literally _dripping_ off his teasing words. "That comeback was just so good, I was going to write it down and use it again later." Naruto smirked at the look of rage on the easily provoked boy's face.

"That's it Uzumaki! You're going down!" Kiba exclaimed, Akamaru barking loudly.

"So I've heard." Naruto answered, raising an eyebrow. "Honestly, if I wanted a chat then I'd have gone to a tea party. If we're gonna fight, then let's _fight!_" He exclaimed, leaping forward quickly. Kiba blinked a little at the unexpected speed (_Honestly, when will they all stop underestimating me?_ Naruto thought with a grimace) before jumping backwards and blocking the kick Naruto sent his way.

Naruto pushed himself to his limits, darting around the annoyed boy and his dog. Every few seconds he would land a blow on the increasingly infuriated teen, making sure not to injure him too badly just yet. To all the ninja in the audience, and many civilians, it was obvious that the blonde was simply toying with the Inuzuka. Naruto would swing a deadly blow at the teen, only to stop just a few centimetres away from his mark. Kiba knew it also, and his eyes widened as he wondered just how much of his skills the supposed dead last had been hiding.

Finally, Naruto seemed to tire of the conflict, as he settled to a stop a few metres away from Kiba. Kiba had yet to use his family technique, as Naruto hadn't yet given him an opportunity to do so. "What say we end this pointless battle now, eh?" Naruto suggested, drawing a kunai and twirling the hole around his finger teasingly. "I'll give you one last chance to surrender Inuzuka."

"I'll never loose to a dead last like you!" Kiba spat, before quickly taking the chance to perform his family jutsu. He and Akamaru soon became highly destructive whirlwind clone things, charging at Naruto in unison.

Naruto merely yawned, awaiting the impact with no emotion save boredom showing on his face. At the very last second before impact, Naruto darted out of the way. This continued for a few minutes, before Naruto had had enough. "Okay fine. You know what? Let's get serious here." He muttered, before raising his right arm.

He quickly gathered the chakra in his palm, swirling it around and forming a perfect Rasengan. The next time Kiba charged at him, he grabbed the teen, swinging him around until Kiba's momentum finally ran out. The jutsu faded and Kiba stared at him wide eyed, as Naruto held his glowing blue hand up to Kiba's face.

"I'd surrender if I were you…unless you want my little Rasengan imbedded in your forehead?" Kiba shook his head. "I didn't think so."

"I will not surrender." Kiba muttered, his voice barely audible.

Naruto smirked, before beginning to laugh at his opponent. "If I'm dead last, and I just _kicked your_ _ass_, then what does that make _you_ Inuzuka?" He asked, bringing the Rasengan closer threateningly. "I'll tell you what it makes you," he murmured as he brought his kunai up in his other hand. "Six feet under!" He hissed as he brought the kunai down towards the Inuzuka's head. At the last second, Naruto flipped the kunai so that the hilt impacted, knocking Kiba out rather then killing him. "And _That,_" he announced to the slightly shocked audience. "Is why you shouldn't underestimate Naruto Uzumaki."

He returned to the stands, hearing cheering from his friends. The rest of the crowd was pretty much silent, but Naruto didn't really care. He rejoined his friends on the balcony, silently wondering what the next match would be.

"The fifth match goes to Naruto Uzumaki. This concludes round one of the third exams. There will be a short fifteen minute break, and then we will precede with match six, Rock Lee of Leaf versus Subaku no Gaara of Sand." Genma announced, as medics took the unconscious Inuzuka away on a stretcher.

…AR…

"Only six of us left in it." Sasuke muttered with a sigh as he sipped his glass of water. Naruto, Shikamaru and Sasuke, being the only ones of the rookie nine still in the tournament, had wandered off together during the break. Naruto was meaning to give Sasuke some tips about fighting Gaara, and Shikamaru had tagged along.

"I know." Naruto murmured. "I wonder if any of us will become chuunin."

Shikamaru snorted, earning him a glare from the blonde. "I don't know about you Uzumaki, but after all this drama, I certainly plan on passing this exam."

Sasuke nodded in agreement, before turning to Naruto. "What was it you wanted to tell me about your friend?"

"Oh yes, Gaara. Now he's really a nice guy, he just tends to get…over excited while fighting. If you do happen to face off against him, you'd probably do best to surrender, because he is at a much higher skill level then you…sorry Sasuke. But since we all know that that's not going to happen, it is _Sasuke_ that we're talking about, I'm going to give you some tips on how to fight him." Naruto announced. "Surprisingly, he does have a weakness, and it is water. Unfortunately, you are more fire orientated, which will not really help against Gaara. Gaara's weakness is water, because it turns his sand to mud, which is much harder for him to manipulate. Do you know any good water jutsus?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not really…" Sasuke muttered, shaking his head.

"Well, I don't really have time to teach you any now…so we're just going to have to work with something else then. Your Chidori _should_ have effect if he uses his sand dome, but I know you can't do that one very many times. Therefore, you should keep Chidori as your trump card, and use it last." Naruto sighed slightly before muttering, "Perhaps all this talk will be futile. You may not even fight the guy…but if you do, don't use fire, do use your Sharingan, and do leave Chidori till last. Got it?"

Sasuke nodded, looking a little uncertain. "Shika, I'm almost positive you'll fight Gaara, but you know how to handle him, right?" Shikamaru nodded affirmatively. "Good. Moving on to Temari. Temari's pretty easy to handle, if you get rid of her fan. The best way to do that, is a substitution jutsu, or put a big hole in it as fast as possible so that she can't manipulate her wind so easily. Shika, do the shadow thing, but don't let her learn your range. Either that, or pretend you have a shorter range and then use your proper range later. Sasuke, your fire jutsus should do nicely on the fan, considering you get there extremely quickly.

"As for Lee, he's a piece of cake if you know how to handle him right. He's a Tai jutsu specialist, so don't get too close. He's also incredibly fast, so it would be best for Shika to use his shadow jutsu and then just do what you did to Dosu. Sasuke, I'm not too sure you can handle Lee, no offence, but my only advice is _don't_ engage him in close combat fighting, because he will win. The best thing to do is beat him quickly before he can remove his weights, 'cause if he gets them off, you're screwed. You both got all that?" After receiving two nods in confirmation, Naruto smiled.

"Whether you win or not, I'm positive you'll both be chosen as chuunin. As much as I don't particularly want to fight either of you out there…may the best man win! Good Luck, and I'll see you at the finish line." With that the three friends rejoined the rest of the rookie nine, receiving many wishes of favourable fortune and good luck. Finally, the break was over, and Genma called Lee and Gaara into the arena,

**A/N: Sorry, it's a bit short…but I was running out of steam there! That chapter was surprisingly hard to write…and I'm STILL not happy with it. Grrrr………..-sigh- oh well, hopefully it'll get better soon, yeah? I'd go back and rewrite it like I always end up doing, but it's getting kinda late and it's my birthday tomorrow (YAY!) so I actually have to get up before mid day. Sorry again for the crappy quality, please don't flame me? –Puppy dog eyes- **

**P.S: I'll be changing the title of the story soon to the name of the series and then Book one: The Butterfly Effect…but the series name is yet undecided. So far I'm thinking of calling the series Surreality, but if you think you have a better one, please do let me know! I'd appreciate any and all suggestions you may have thanks!**


	15. The Chaos Begins

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Naruto/Gaara, Sakura/Shino, Sasuke/Temari, Shikamaru/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka (mentioned only). Pairings are set now.**

**A/N: Second last Chapter! Actually, it **_**may**_** be the third last…depends…**

**Chapter Fifteen: The Chaos Begins**

Genma blinked slightly, before nodding. "I hadn't formally started the match yet…but I suppose it counts. Winner, Subaku no Gaara of Suna." Naruto too blinked a little, looking from the apathetic looking red head, to the unconscious bowl-cut-boy on the ground. Gaara had merely entered the arena, glanced at Lee, before performing a quick sleep jutsu, causing Lee to collapse to the ground. It was simple, but effective. Genma had not even had time to announce the match.

"Well that was…fast." Naruto muttered as Gaara passed him. "You could've at least given the poor guy a chance to fight!"

Gaara smirked at the blonde. "I was trying to beat Nara's record. Did I succeed?"

Naruto shook his head with a smirk. "Nope. Since you didn't wait for the match to be called, the timers weren't started. Technically, that win shouldn't have been counted."

"I was a good three seconds faster then Nara!" Gaara exclaimed, his eyes narrowing into an angry glare.

"Too bad, Gaara. You didn't wait for the clocks, so it didn't count." Naruto said happily as he walked away to join his friends, leaving Gaara fuming behind him.

"Next match," Genma announced. "Will be Shikamaru Nara of Leaf versus Subaku no Temari of Sand." Shikamaru sighed, muttering his usual line of 'how troublesome' as he stood up and followed the blonde girl into the arena.

Temari smirked and hoisted her fan as Shikamaru rolled his eyes, standing in front of her. Genma told them to begin, although neither moved for a few moments. Finally, Shikamaru spoke.

"Why is it that I _always_ get the girls? I honestly think that I've fought about ten _times_ more girls then boys." He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Girls are so troublesome. They shouldn't be allowed to become shinobi at all, in my opinion." To most people, Shikamaru's baiting was obvious. To Temari, however, whose thoughts were slightly clouded with rage, it was not so obvious.

"Teme! I'll slaughter you, you sexist asshole!" She exclaimed, opening her fan so that all three purple moons were visible. Shikamaru merely smirked, and retreated to the shadows of the tree. He knew he would have to wait a little for the shadows to grow, so he got comfortable. Temari seemed enraged, as Shikamaru seemed to be completely disregarding her as a threat.

Some pointless banter continued for quite some time, Temari never suspecting that Shikamaru was trying to draw the fight out so that the sun was in the right position. Therefore, she was suitably surprised when Shikamaru suddenly jumped up, leaping to the edge of the shadows. A few moments later, the shadows began to stretch at a rapid pace travelling quickly along the ground. Temari's eyes widened as she attempted to jump back, but she didn't get far until the shadows caught up with her, trapping her within their hold.

Shikamaru smirked and walked a few steps closer to her, causing her to walk a few steps closer to him. He then stopped and raised an arm, causing Temari to do the same. "I, Subaku no Temari of Suna, forfeit this match." He announced, causing a very reluctant Temari to do so in unison with him.

Genma nodded slowly, "Okay, Shikamaru Nara wins due to Subaku no Temari's forfeit." Shikamaru rolled his eyes slightly.

"That was so damn troublesome. Now I have even less chakra then before…" He muttered to himself, as he walked back up the steps to where his friends were sitting.

"Nice, Shika." Naruto said with a smile. "Only three more matches left!"

They genin, hopefully-soon-to-be-chuunin, all waited in anticipation as Genma walked over to speak with one of the other officials. Finally, he re-entered the arena. "Match eight of the third chuunin exams will be Sasuke Uchiha versus Naruto Uzumaki." The two team mates glanced at each other apprehensively, before nodding and standing up. They dutifully proceeded down the stairs, trekking slowly into the middle of the arena. Genma began the match, as the two faced each other.

"This sucks…" Sasuke muttered, glaring at the proctor. "Team mates shouldn't have to fight team mates." Some of the audience began to glance strangely at Sasuke, muttering to one another. The reason was not hard to find; Most would have thought that the Uchiha would have had no qualms about kicking his (demon) team mate's ass. Yet here he was, saying that he shouldn't have to fight him?

"I agree Sasuke." Naruto said with a small smile. "So I'll offer you this chance to forfeit…after all, I wouldn't want you to break a nail, Princess!" He asked with an amused smirk.

Sasuke shook his head, smiling slightly. "No way, Uzumaki. But you can always drop out now if you want, before you get beaten _too_ badly."

"Alright then Sasuke, you don't want to quit, and I certainly don't…so let's fight! Just think of it as a sparring match, only this time…go all out, because I won't be holding back this time Uchiha." Okay, so that was a lie…but Sasuke didn't need to know that.

"Alright, all out it is then. Scared, Uzumaki?" Sasuke taunted, smirking widely.

"Not a chance in hell!" Naruto exclaimed. "Now what are you waiting for, Princess? The sun to be in the right spot so you can work up a tan? Kami knows you need it; I've noticed you have a sort of ghost-like complexion these days. Hate to say it, but it kinda clashes with your eyes…you know, with the whole red and black thing you have going for you?"

"At least I don't look like some kind of banana split with rabies!" Sasuke exclaimed vehemently, perhaps not quite thinking about his words before hand. There was a full ten seconds of silence as both Naruto and all of the audience tried to figure out the grounds for that comment.

Naruto blinked, raising an eyebrow. "A banana split with rabies? Honestly Sasuke, I think you need to take some comeback lessons from Kiba. I mean, even Kiba's comebacks at least have some sort of connection to my looks or actions, no matter how vague…" Naruto muttered, giving Sasuke a weird look.

Sasuke shrugged, desperately trying to salvage his pride. "I just thought, you know…you have yellow hair, bananas are yellow, and dogs and foxes have whiskers and they get rabies so…" Sasuke trailed off as Naruto tried to contain a laugh.

"Whatever, Princess. How about we get this show on the road, eh?"

Sasuke nodded quickly, eager for his embarrassing comment to be forgotten. The two locked eyes for a moment, Naruto grinning as Sasuke's quickly bled into the crimson irises with small, black tadpole-like dots. Naruto brought his hands together in a sort of cross, muttering the words to create his ever present army of shadow clones. He stood back as the fifteen clones charged at Sasuke, giving Naruto some time to plan his next attack.

Sasuke drew two kunai and began to dispel he shadow clones, destroying them all in under a minute. He then turned to face the real Naruto, who smirked and held out a palm. Sasuke's eyes widened as chakra began to pool in Naruto's hand, swirling around until it became a spinning ball of chakra. Sasuke immediately performed the Chidori, causing his own arm to be encased with his chakra, the cheeping sound growing in volume as the Chidori progressed.

The two team mates faced each other, one with the Rasengan and one with the Chidori. The crowd waited with baited breaths for one of the two to move. Finally, Sasuke broke the staring contest, leaping forward with his Chidori in front of him. In the crowd, two certain grey haired sensei's raised an eyebrow at their student's use of the two attacks on each other.

Naruto followed Sasuke's lead, jumping into the air and meeting Sasuke's Chidori with his Rasengan. For a moment, both seemed to be suspended in the air as their attacks clashed, pushing against each other as they fought for dominance. Finally, the Rasengan won out against the Chidori, and pushed the black haired teen backwards. Sasuke gasped and flipped back into the air, narrowly avoiding the Rasengan. He flipped in the air just before he landed, crouching to better absorb the shock of his landing.

Naruto sailed through the air, unable to stop his attack. Finally, he flipped around and landed on the side of the arena wall, using chakra channelled through his feet. His Rasengan dissipated as he ceased focusing the chakra, dissolving back into the source it was drawn from.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as the blonde flipped neatly off the wall, landing fluidly on his feet just in front of Sasuke. Sasuke found himself wondering when his once-clumsy team mate had become so…graceful. This was the moment where Sasuke realised that there were a _lot_ of things that had changed about Naruto. He didn't have time to ponder upon this new revelation, however, as said team mate began executing several advanced taijutsu combinations, forcing Sasuke to focus on the battle.

Sasuke found himself acting purely on the defensive, as he struggled to keep up with his team mate's speed. He growled in annoyance as yet again, Naruto brushed off one of the few blows he'd been able to attempt as if it were nothing. Naruto smirked as Sasuke stumbled slightly, losing even more ground the fast moving blonde. Even with his Sharingan, Sasuke was having a hard time keeping up with Naruto's speed. He found himself studying his opponent's style as he was backed against the wall, picking out the similarities he had noticed between Naruto's style and his own style. Sasuke had noticed that there were also quite a few other different styles mixed in, all of which Naruto managed to combine as one ultimate fighting style. It was when Naruto struck him at an exact point on his arm, that he knew he was right.

Naruto had, perhaps unknowingly, applied a small amount of chakra to his fingertips as he had struck, hitting the certain point on his arm. The hit had effectively stopped the chakra flow from Sasuke's arm, rendering the arm useless for any and all seals Sasuke might attempt. Sasuke knew that that particular style of fighting was exclusive to the Hyuuga clan, as the Hyuuga's possessed the Byakugan, which made it possible for the prestigious clan to actually see the chakra points. Naruto, however, did not have the Byakugan, and so Sasuke was at a loss as to how Naruto had managed to his that exact spot. _Perhaps it is coincidence…?_ He found himself thinking whilst he blocked desperately as Naruto aimed a punch at his stomach.

…_Definitely not coincidence_. Sasuke decided, as Naruto proceeded to do the same thing to his other arm. Naruto smirked and jumped back, landing in the middle of the arena. Sasuke sagged slightly onto the wall behind him, regaining his breath. It suddenly occurred to him, as he watched Naruto stare at him from the middle for the arena, that Naruto had been merely toying with him for the entire 'battle'.

Surprisingly, Sasuke didn't feel angered by this, nor was he jealous of the other boy's skill. He couldn't explain it, but for some reason knowing that Naruto was so out of his league was not nearly as bothering as he would have thought it would be a year ago. Now, he simply felt resigned and slightly annoyed as the blonde boy smirked at him, knowing that he had already won.

Sasuke sighed, slumping against the wall. He tried vaguely to form the Chidori, and was wholly unsurprised as he failed to do so. Finally, he raised an arm into the air, glancing at the proctor tiredly. "Genma-san, I forfeit." He muttered, glancing at his opponent. "This match goes to you, Naruto."

Genma nodded, glancing between the two boys. "Alright then. Naruto Uzumaki wins due to Sasuke Uchiha's forfeit." The two boys silently crossed the arena, walking side by side as they headed back towards their friends. Just before they reached them, Naruto pulled Sasuke to a stop, turning him to face him.

"You did great, Sasuke, and I am sorry I had to do that…but I _have_ to fight Gaara. As much as I wish we could _both_ win, we cant, and there can only be one winner. You did good though, and I bet you will be selected as a chuunin anyway." Naruto said, smiling at his friend.

Sasuke sighed, glaring at the floor before finally meeting Naruto's eyes. The sincerity he found there, however, was enough to dispel Sasuke's frown completely. "That's alright, I understand…but I _will_ beat you one day, just you wait."  
Naruto grinned, before nodding. "I'll hold you to that Sasuke Uchiha, and don't you forget it." Sasuke nodded in agreement, and the two rejoined their friends. After a few minutes, Genma finally returned to the arena and announced the next match. Of course, everyone already knew who would be fighting.

"The next match will be Subaku no Gaara versus Shikamaru Nara." Genma announced, before replacing his ever present needle in his mouth. Shikamaru sighed, leaning back in his chair. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he recognised the look on his friend's face.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto screamed, jumping to his feet and causing almost everyone to stare at him. "Don't you DARE Shikamaru!" Shikamaru sighed, rolling his eyes at the blonde. "You did _not_ get this far only to give up now. You are going to get your lazy ass right down there and beat the shit out of Gaara, got it?"

"What's the _point_?" Shikamaru muttered, whining slightly. "Gaara's just gonna grind my ass into the sand anyway…I'd rather get out of this alive thanks Naruto. Besides, it's _so_ much less troublesome to just not fight then to loose in an incredibly embarrassing way against a freak who doesn't even have any eyebrows."

"It's the principal of the matter!" Naruto exclaimed, poking Shikamaru in the chest. "How do you expect to _achieve_ anything, if you don't even bother TRYING!"

"…I _don't_ expect to achieve anything…" Shikamaru muttered, rubbing his chest slightly. "Because achieving anything would be far too troublesome for someone like me."

"Argh! You infuriate me! FINE! Do whatever the hell you like, Nara, but don't come whining to me when _I_ become Hokage and _you_ are just some lazy old bum on the streets!" Naruto exclaimed vehemently, glaring at the lazy teen. His pupils had become slitted and his eyes had taken on a red hue as chakra pooled in the air around him, creating a rather frightening picture. He snarled one last time at Shikamaru, before storming off without another glance. Shikamaru blinked, looking considerably cowed and intimidated. Finally, Shikamaru leant over the railing, locking eyes with the proctor. "I forfeit." He muttered, before wandering off to go find his friend and tell Naruto that it was his turn to fight…then again, maybe he'd ask Sasuke. Naruto would probably still be considerably pissed.

…AR…

Naruto honestly had no idea what had made him react like that. Sure, Shikamaru was annoying in that he gave up on everything without even trying. But Naruto was well and truly used to his companion's behaviour, after working so closely with him for so many years. He finally came to the conclusion that he was just a little bit stressed and strung out about the upcoming attack of Orochimaru, which was already well and truly late. Naruto was beginning to get apprehensive about his ability to counter the attack, when he couldn't predict what Orochimaru was going to do. If he was already late, then it was not impossible for the entire plans to have changed, leaving Naruto in the dark.

Naruto's brooding was interrupted by none other then Gaara. "You're up, Naruto. Shadow boy dropped out." Naruto sighed, closing his eyes as he attempted to calm his

nerves. He pulled the escaped chakra back into his body, causing his eyes to regain their natural colour. "Let's go." He muttered standing up. Gaara nodded and followed him out of the room, sending him a concerned glance which Naruto promptly ignored. Finally, they reached the arena, and turned to face each other. They wasted no time on words, and merely exchanged a nod before both coming to the conclusion that neither would be going easy on the other. This would be a fight to the death, so to speak, and only one of them would win this time.

As if in an unspoken agreement, both demon vessels leaped forward in unison, drawing kunai and sending metallic sparks up as the two metal knives clashed. Naruto spun around, reversing the direction of his second strike, but Gaara was ready for him. The two began an intricate dance, starting slowly and rapidly growing to a crescendo as they became mere colourful blurs to the observers. Each attack launched by one would be instantaneously stopped by the other, not a single blow was landed. It was proof of how well the two knew each other, that they were able to predict each other's movements so accurately.

Finally, the two stopped just a few metres away from each other, neither sweating nor breathing much harder then normal. As defiant blue eyes met the unyielding green ones of his opponent, the two seemed to communicate perfectly without words, as they both sheathed their kunai. Gaara reached behind his back and removed the stopped from his gourd, releasing the sand within. The sand swirled around his body, ready to protect the red head at a moment's notice.

Simultaneously, Naruto reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out two black gloves. Gaara, Shikamaru and a certain raven perched on Shikamaru's shoulder all knew immediately that the blonde jinchuuriki was taking the match seriously. Naruto pulled on the gloves, and turned to face his opponent, as the two prepared to fight.

The two fighters blocked out the rest of the world, focussing solely on each other. They disregarded everything but the immediate moment, forgetting about everything else. For the first time in a long time, Subaku no Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto were fighting seriously, and one of them was going to loose. There would be not double forfeits or ties this time, they would finally prove to each other which one was better, once and for all. It was more then just a mere match to them, it was the opportunity that they had been waiting for…the opportunity to prove themselves to each other, and everyone else.

"Nibai Rasengan!" Naruto exclaimed, using what had become his trademark jutsu in the future/old dimension. It was a variation of the Rasengan that he had developed that concentrated the chakra in both hands, so that he had, as the name suggested, a double Rasengan. Chakra pooled instantly in his hands, swirling around and becoming balls of blue energy. He raised his arms and charged at Gaara, ploughing through the wall of sand that rose up to meet him.

Gaara flipped away just in time to avoid Naruto's strike as the powerful Rasengan decimated his sand wall. Naruto cursed as the chakra dissipated, and spun around to chase the red head. Gaara brought his hand to his mouth, biting his thumb and slamming his hand on the ground as he yelled the words for the summoning jutsu. Seconds later there was a loud pop as a large raccoon appeared within the gathered smoke.

Naruto copied his actions, summoning an equally sized fox to take care of the raccoon, while he engaged Gaara. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" He cried, summoning a hundred clones to attack from different sides. Gaara merely raised his hands, causing his sand to crush many of the clones behind him as he leapt forward, lunging at the one he was sure was the real Naruto.

Naruto dodged Gaara's roundhouse kick by a hair and replied with one of his own, only to stop a few inches away and reverse the direction, hoping to catch the red head off guard. After all, taijutsu had never really been one of Gaara's strong points. Gaara avoided the kick, but was forced to jump backwards where he was attacked by many of Naruto's clones. Naruto took the short moment to check on his summon, who was still fighting the raccoon.

The fox was jut finishing off the raccoon, when the giant raccoon disappeared quite suddenly. Naruto spun around to see that Gaara had dispelled the summoning jutsu just in time to spare his summon. Naruto quickly did the same, not liking the chunk that holding the summoning jutsu had taken out of his chakra. His chakra levels, after all, were still relatively small compared to what Naruto was used to.

He took a moment whilst Gaara finished off his clones to draw upon Kyuubi's chakra, letting it flow through his chakra channels and surround him in a comforting red glow. He grinned as his hearing, sight and smell suddenly increased dramatically, feeling his eyes slit and gain a red hue. He looked over and noticed that Gaara too was tapping into his demonic powers. The two demon vessels faced each other once more, this time glowing with the intensity of their demonic chakra. They heard the concerned gasps of the crowd, but ignored them completely as they focused on their battle.

In a flash of red both vessels were moving rapidly towards each other, restarting their previous dance tenfold with their enhanced speed and senses. They dashed around each other faster then the eye could see, drawing on their familiar elements to help their defence. Gaara's sand swirled around him like a tornado, ripping towards Naruto who managed to escape easily each time. Flames from an earlier jutsu that Naruto had used swirling around the blonde, protecting him as well as Gaara's sand did for the red head. Naruto felt nothing but a pleasant heat as the flames licked him, as the Kyuubi was naturally a being of fire.

The crowd felt themselves grow amazed as the two evenly matched shinobi flowed from movement to movement, covering the ground so quickly that they were nothing more then a blur. Within that crowd, Kakashi, Sasuke, Neji, Hinata and Hiashi watched the fight intensely with their respective vision enhancing traits, finding themselves wondering how two shinobi could predict each other's moves so thoroughly. Neither had landed a blow on the other, yet the fight had been in action for well over an hour by this point. It was as if the entire event had been scripted and practised over and over until the actors had gotten it perfect.

Finally, first blood was drawn. It was just a small slash on his cheek, but it was enough to make Gaara falter. Because of this small but crucial mistake, Naruto was able to draw second and third blood before Gaara finally jumped away. Gaara paused, panting slightly. He was satisfied to see that the blonde was breathing heavily too. He wiped the blood off his cheek and arm, wondering how Naruto had managed to get through his sand defences. It was then that he realised, that fighting Naruto with his sand was not going to work. The reason being; Gaara didn't have all that much precise control over the sand, more that it acted on its own accord, protecting Gaara from what it perceived to be a threat. Since Gaara himself never thought of the blond vessel as a threat, neither did the sand, and therefore his normally impenetrable defences were useless.

"Kuso!" He swore as the blond began to attack in earnest, obviously picking up on his lack of defences quickly. It was all he could do to block the lightning fast strikes, powered with a carefully executed amount of chakra aiming directly for his vital chakra points. Gaara knew to stay well away from Naruto when he began to use the gentle first style. Gaara began to sweat as Naruto attacked with his newly increased vigour, finally finding himself backed against the wall. He sighed and dropped his kunai, conceding to defeat, when a commotion at the top of the stands caught his and Naruto's eye.

It was up where the Hokage and the fake Kazekage sat, and it was in the form of a tall, pale snake like man and his grey-haired spectacled associate.

"_Orochimaru."_

**A/N: I AM SO SORRY! I can't believe it took me this long! TWO WHOLE WEEKS! –Sigh- But I do have a pretty good explanation for my absence. First of all, school has gone back. That is pretty much self explanatory. I actually managed to get most of this done last week, and was planning to finish it a few days later, but I've been pretty sick lately and just didn't get around to it. On top of that, I had MAJOR writer's block while trying to write the Naruto vs. Gaara scene, and I am fairly certain I screwed it up anyway…I'm sorry, I did try. I was then going to finish it last night, but I had another one of my little 'episodes' which was pretty unexpected din itself…it wasn't that big a deal, I just fainted again and woke up a bit disorientated. I then went to my mum to tell her that it happened again, when my vision went all funny and I couldn't see very much. Naturally, I freaked out just a little and had a panic attack, hyperventilating and shit. Once I calmed down I just wasn't in the mood for writing, sorry. I'm sorry it's so…ugh…but it's pretty late and I'm on some new sleeping tablets that I took about half an hour ago, so I'm REALLY tired…but hopefully it will help me sleep better, yeah? Sorry again for the wait, I wish I could promise it won't happen again…but I don't wanna jinx it.**

**-Aquarias**


	16. Sick Again

**A/N: **

**Sigh I'm pretty sure these aren't allowed, but I'll take it down once I finally update. I just thought I should let y'all know what's happening.**

**First of all, I'm sick again, this time with Bronchitis. So adding that to my recent fainting fits and blood tests, I've missed a third of school already this term. Which isn't good. So once I'm finally healthy, I'll be spending time catching up on the mountains upon mountains of schoolwork that awaits me after missing so much school.**

**So, the reason I'm telling you all this, is to let you know that I won't be able to update as frequently as I used to, at least for a few weeks. I will make a point to try and update at least once a week, but I can't promise anything just yet.**

**Thanks to all of you who've supported me through this and haven't been pressuring me to update, and who've left nice reviews even though the chapter quality has been average at best for the last few updates.**

**I suppose the moral of this little story, is that being sick sucks ******** And you should try to stay healthy ******

**-AquaRias**


	17. Making Sense

**The Butterfly Effect**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Summary: As a last attempt to save his village from Orochimaru, Rokudaime Naruto Uzumaki and Kazekage Gaara of Suna pull out their last trump card…and do it all again. But from every action forms a **_**re**_**action…can they get it right?**

**Pairings: Naruto/Gaara, Sakura/Shino, Sasuke/Temari, Shikamaru/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka (mentioned only). Pairings are set now.**

**A/N: LAST CHAPTER. I will first apologise in advance for the utter crappiness of this chapter, I forced myself to write it even though I wasn't in the mood and I've had a bit of trouble with this one. I know you're all gonna hate me for what I did with this chapter, cause it's such a cop out, yeah? But I tried to make it the best I could…I'm sorry if you think I just couldn't be bothered doing it properly, because that is so totally not the case. This fanfic is one of the mot important things in my life right now (as corny as it sounds and as much as you must be thinking "WHOA this girl has no life!") and if I had any other way to do this chapter I woulda done it that way….**

**OH AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THE TITLE HAS BEEN CHANGED AND IS SPESH AND NEW, YEAH? Well still tell me if you have a better one, cause like yeah.**

**Chapter Sixteen: Making Sense**

With the sheer amount of preparation, warning and planning that had been put into the whole affair, the actual thing itself was somewhat of a let down. With the Hokage notified and ready of the attack, every ANBU on guard and waiting, two of the legendary sannin hidden in the crowd and ready for actions, plus Naruto and Gaara on their side, Orochimaru's attack was considerably smaller then it had been the first time. In the end, they had left all the leaf shinobi and the newly allied sand shinobi to fight the sound, whilst the four time travellers, two sannin and Sarutobi went and took on Orochimaru. There were a few complications along the way; such as Sarutobi and he sannin not understanding why four genin thought they could stop an SS class criminal, which lead to the hasty revelation of their secret.

-Flash back-

"_What on Earth are you four doing here!" Sarutobi exclaimed, pausing in his haste to find Orochimaru. Jiraiya and Tsunade stood behind him, both scowling at the four genin. _

"_Trust me old man," Naruto sighed. "You need us to defeat old Snakey."_

"_And why would we need a bunch of genin?" Tsunade sneered, frowning at the four of then. _

_The four exchanged a glance quickly, before Shikamaru stepped forward. "Surely you've noticed something…odd about Naruto, Hokage-sama?" He asked, tilting his head slightly._

"_Well yes, Kakashi did mention something was amiss, but that's hardly relevant-"_

"_On the contrary Hokage-sama." Gaara interrupted. "It's incredibly relevant. You see Naruto, is not really Naruto. At least, not the one you know. Just as I am not __this__ Gaara, Shika is not __this__ Shikamaru and Sasuke is not this Sasuke." _

"_I don't get it." Jiraiya snapped. "What do you mean, 'not __this __Gaara'? If not __this__ Gaara, then what Gaara are you?" He asked, looking quite confused._

"_We are from another world." Naruto explained. "We were forced to come to this dimension after our own one was ruined. We were the ones who tipped you off about this whole thing." _

_The three legendary ninja stared at the blonde for a full three seconds, before trading uneasy glanced. "Okay Naruto," The Sandaime sighed, "that's enough. This is __not__ the time to be playing childish pranks!" _

"_It's true!" Sasuke snapped. "Do you honestly think __I__ would take part in one of Uzumaki's tricks? We really are from another dimension and you need our help."_

"_Okay, I knew Uchiha was mad, but I honestly didn't think he needed to be institutionalised. I'm starting to think I thought to early." Jiraiya muttered, causing Tsunade to smirk slightly. _

"_Look." Shikamaru interrupted, glaring at the older ninjas. "I really don't care if you believe us or not, but there's an evil snake faced bastard out there who needs his ass kicked, so let's not waste any more time shall we? You're either with us, or you're not. Take your pick." He growled, before grabbing Sasuke and Naruto's arms and leading them away in the direction where Orochimaru sat astride his giant snake. A few moments later, the three bewildered ninja quickly followed, deciding to leave their questions until after the battle. _

-End Flashback-

The battle had been short, at least in comparison to Sarutobi's battle with Orochimaru the first time. Six to one was just kick ass odds though, so Orochimaru never really stood a chance. No, the battle had been the easy part of the day…the complicated part, came afterwards.

"Weird how much difference ten years made on Orochimaru's strength isn't it?" Naruto commented idly to Shikamaru and Gaara as they waited in the fairly boring, plain white room. Shortly after the battle they had been 'arrested' for lack of a better word, and were now all being individually questioned. While they probably could have escaped the Black Opts and left Konoha quickly, they had decided to stay and see what the Hokage wanted from them. Now the three of them were awaiting their turn for questioning as Sasuke had been chosen to question first.

A good bit of proof on their part was the fact that there were actually two Sasuke's, one who had been knocked out by the other prior to the battle. So just to make sure, both their Sasuke as well as the incredibly confused native Sasuke were being interrogated.

"If only we'd had more warning last time." Shikamaru sighed. "Then all this shit wouldn't have happened, and we'd probably be at home right now with our friends and families. Who knows, I might have been a dad by now." A pensive look drifted onto the lazy shinobi's face as he looked into the distance, his eyes glassing over slightly.

Gaara merely sighed and sat back in his chair, utterly fed up with the incredibly slow proceedings. "Let's just take off." He muttered. "We don't have to deal with this shit, we saved their asses."

"I know Gaara," Naruto explained patiently, as if talking to a particularly thick toddler. "But you can't fault them for wanting to understand the unique and complex situation they've found themselves in."

"Oh yes I can, just watch me. I'm faulting them right now." Gaara snapped, glaring at the blonde.

Shikamaru raised a hand to hide his face from Gaara and mouthed something to Naruto that looked suspiciously like, 'PMS'.

"I saw that!" Gaara growled. "That too." He muttered, referring to Naruto who had just flipped him off behind his back.

Their little spat was interrupted by the door swinging open. "Naruto Uzumaki?" The Chuunin at the door asked, motioning Naruto over who had nodded in response. "They would like to question you now."

Naruto sighed and followed the Chuunin out the door, finding himself lead to a room a few doors down the hall way. Sasuke, who was just coming out as he entered the room, glanced at him sympathetically. "Good luck." Sasuke muttered, before he was lead away by his guard and back to the room with the others. Naruto shook his head before turning and looking around the room. The Hokage sat at the desk, with Ibiki standing on one side and Kakashi on the other. Tsunade and Jiraiya stood behind him, the kunoichi motioning for him to take a seat in front of the desk.

"We've heard Sasuke Uchiha's story, now we would like to hear your version." Naruto sighed, this was going to be a long day.

…AR…

Eleven and a half hours later, the four of them stumbled outside the tower, blinking slightly at the unexpected light of the newly risen sun. They'd been in the tower for fifteen hours in total, being questioned over and over again both separately and together. They'd had to perform countless jutsus and skills as proof, Naruto had even had to recite most of the Hokage's handbook, which was available _only_ for the Hokage's viewing, which was proof of his status as Hokage. Basically, they were hungry, tired, exhausted, dirty, and did I mention exhausted?

Naruto lead the way, walking almost instinctively in a direct line to Ichiraku's ramen stand. The other three were too tired to even bother reprimanding him on his unhealthy choice of food, and merely followed him into the stand. Half an hour and about thirty bowls of ramen between them later, they were all feeling much more agreeable after being fed. They stood up and left the ramen stand, wandering around the city for a little while, before deciding to go and do their own thing. They made plans to meet at the Hokage's mountain that day after lunch, to discuss what they would do next, before splitting up and going their separate ways.

Naruto walked slowly, heading to the Uchiha compound, where he was hoping to run into the native Sasuke. As he walked, he thought about the events after their interrogations which had resulted in the Sandaime retiring and handing his coat and hat over to Tsunade. Tsunade had grudgingly accepted the title after much persuasion by many people, something that Naruto was proud of.

When he knocked on the Uchiha's door he heard footsteps as Sasuke came to answer it. The door swung open and Naruto found himself staring into deep obsidian pools. "Hey Sasuke," he greeted, smiling warmly at his friend. "May I come in?"

"Sure, Naruto." Sasuke lead him inside and sat down on the couch, inviting Naruto to sit beside him. After a few moments, Naruto broke the slightly awkward silence.

"I assume by now you've heard about the whole dimension thing?"

Sasuke nodded slowly, glancing away from the blonde. "Yeah."

"Look Sasuke, you know I didn't want to lie to you, right?" Sasuke nodded hesitantly. "I'm sorry Sasuke. I'll understand if you think I've betrayed your trust for lying for so long, but I really hope we can still be friends. I may be ten years older then you, but I really value our friendship which is something I didn't necessarily have for a long time the first time around."

Sasuke sighed, before shaking his head. "That's okay Naruto, I understand why you had to lie, Kakashi explained everything to me. I want to thank you for teaching me so much over the last few months, you are the first friend I've ever had, but hopefully not the last." He said, before quickly looking down as an embarrassed blush spread over his cheeks.

"Thankyou Sasuke, you have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that." Naruto said, smiling at the black haired teen.

Sasuke looked up after a few moments, looking a little saddened. "You plan on leaving, don't you?"

Naruto sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not sure. If I do leave though, I promise to come and visit you as much as I possibly can."

"Promise to be here the day I become Hokage?" Sasuke asked, a hopeful glint in his eye.

"You wanna become Hokage?" Naruto asked, a curious eyebrow raising slightly.

Sasuke nodded slowly. "Well if you're not going to be here then someone has to do it." He muttered, his slight blush betraying his feelings as being more then nonchalant. "I figured if you weren't going to, then I'd do it in your place."

"It's a worthy ambition Sasuke, and I'm one hundred percent positive that you'll achieve it. I also promise to be here the day you do."

"I won't forget you Naruto…you saved me."

"So you DO admit that even the almighty Uchiha needs saving every once in a while!"

"Dobe!"

"Teme!"

**Epilogue: The Dimension Defenders**

"Well, we succeeded. Our work here is done." Naruto said proudly, leaning back with his arms behind his head, watching the clouds drift across the sky.

"Indeed." Shikamaru said with a yawn, closing his eyes as he relaxed on the newly erected stone head of the Fifth Hokage.

"I told you it would work…" Gaara muttered, staring at the clouds with a peaceful expression on his face. The three twelve year olds sat up slowly as they felt the chakra signature of someone approaching. They turned to see Sasuke making his way towards them.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto greeted, motioning his friend closer.

Sasuke shook his head slightly and took a seat beside the other three time travellers. "I still can't believe that Gaara and Shika's crazy plan actually worked." He muttered, shaking his head again.

Naruto laughed. "_I_ still can't believe that the genius over there actually managed to find a way to send you two back here without killing you! How'd you do it, anyway?"

"Secret." Shikamaru muttered, not even bothering to open his eyes.

Sasuke chuckled as Naruto pouted. "We'll tell you one day."

"Promise?" Naruto asked, glaring at his friend.

"Promise." Sasuke agreed, reaching out his hand and shaking Naruto's.

The four sat in silence for a few minutes, basking in their victory. "What are we going to do now?" Naruto asked, staring listlessly at the fluffy white clouds that decorated the sky.

"Somehow I think we'd grow bored if we just lived life as we would have had things gone right the first time." Shikamaru admitted softly.

"I agree." Gaara nodded as he stroked Taki, who sat on his lap.

"Well…what does one do after they go back in time and save the country?" Naruto asked, pondering the question silently.

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't know Naruto. Maybe we're just supposed to enjoy what we saved?"

"It won't be long until it needs saving again. Perhaps we're supposed to just wait until that time arises." Shikamaru offered.

Naruto sighed. "I'm tired of waiting."

"So am I, Dobe, So am I." Sasuke muttered, sighing exasperatedly.

"Well what else can we do?" Gaara asked.

Shikamaru seemed to think for a moment, before answering. "Well, we can always try out that jutsu we discovered and fix all the problems in another dimension…" The others stared at him incredulously. "Hey, it was just a suggestion." Shikamaru said, throwing his hands up in defence.

A slow smile crept onto Naruto's face as he considered this option. "Hey…you know what, that could actually work!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Forget it dobe, it's an untested jutsu. Who knows what could go wrong."

"What have we got to loose?" Gaara muttered. "You just said you wanted another adventure."

"Yes…but another dimension?" Sasuke asked, raising his eyebrows at his team mates.

"Think about it," Naruto said eagerly. "We can travel from dimension to dimension…fixing all their problems and making them all a happy place." When Sasuke still looked unimpressed, Naruto sighed. "Alright, let's put it to a vote. All in favour of using Shika's jutsu and travelling to a new dimension?" Naruto raised his hand along with Shikamaru and Gaara. "All apposed?" He glared at Sasuke, who merely sighed.

"You guys are crazy." He muttered, rolling his eyes. "Alright Shika, what's this jutsu then?"

Naruto grinned widely. "Just let me write a quick note to Tsunade and let's go!" He pulled out a pen and paper, hurriedly scrawling down their intentions.

_Tsunade-sama,_

_Our time in this timeline is up. We've done what we came here to do, and the rest is up to you! We're going to move on to a new dimension now, so good luck with everything Hokage-sama. Say thanks and goodbye to everyone for me, and sorry, but you're going to have to find someone else for Rokudaime._

_If we're successful, I promise we'll come and visit sometime. Don't forget about us!_

_-Naruto, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Gaara and Taki…The Dimension Defenders!_

"Naruto that name is so lame!" Sasuke muttered as he re-read the note.

"Shut up!"

"Make me!"

"I will!"

"Dobe!"

"Teme!"

...TBC…

**A/N: First I'd like to thank every single person who reviewed, you guys are the ones who gave me the motivation to write. Just knowing that there were people out there who looked forward to my updates meant more to me then you could know. You guys stuck with me through all the late chapters, the bad chapters and the occasional good chapters, and I am just so grateful to all of you. Thankyou everyone for reading my fic and giving me the means to pursue my dream of writing, even if this is just the first small step towards a career in literature. **

**To be continued in Surreality Book Two: Shadow Puppet. The first chapter will be up as soon as I can, so hang tight yeah?**

**I'll be posting one last chapter once the sequel is up, letting you all know that it's up, so hang tight for that, yeah? **

**-Aquarias**hHHo


	18. Sequel is Up

**A/N: **

**THE SEQUEL IS UP! **

**So go check it out right now!**

**Surreality Book two: Shadow Puppet **

**Summary: The adventure continues as Naruto, Gaara, Sasuke and Shikamaru find themselves trapped in a world where nothing is as it should be. Hope is waning as they are sucked into a battle between good and evil…how can they shed light on a world of darkness?**

**Thanks once again for all your wonderful reviews last chapter! I love you all!**

**-Aqua**


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